What Was Left Unsaid
by ExcellentDriver
Summary: Booth and Brennan come back from their sabbatical year with huge news, but none of them is exactly what the other was expecting to hear. Post Season 5 Finale.
1. Encounter

**Yeah. I blame the hiatus. Seems like I just can't have only one multi-chapter story on going. I **_**have**_** to torture myself writing two of them at the same time. But the idea of this kept haunting me and I just decided to write it and see if anyone is interested in seeing where this is going.**

**Yep. I know this kind of story has been written a good amount of times and there is probably three thousand fanfics about the scene of Booth and Brennan meeting at the coffee cart, but here I am giving my piece. Yes, again. I **_**am **_**aware I have another post-finale, one-year-later story being written at the moment, but apart from one thing you'll find out after reading this chapter and that I'll just explain later, they are completely different stories. **

**Although my other stories are mostly fluff and humorous (and this will also have a bit of it), this is the soap-opera lover I was while growing up side of me, so you can expect all those dramas and unreal things to happen at the show, happen here. If you don't enjoy a little bit of drama, a little bit of tears, just don't waste your time here. But keep in mind I'm 100% happy ending kind of girl.**

**Again, English is not my first language and I don't have a beta reader, so sorry in advance for the mistakes you'll most likely find. You can point them out to me so I can correct, I really don't mind and actually appreciate when people do that.**

**EDIT: Thanks so much ****Alexis Dawn**** for beta-reading this chapter and correcting the mistakes! :)**

**Disclaimer: Nah-ah, last time I checked, I'm still just a girl who **_**wished**_** she owned Bones.

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She stood in front of the reflecting pool at the mall, a safe distance away from the coffee cart so she would be able to see him once he got there. They didn't schedule a time to meet, but she hoped he wouldn't take much longer to arrive. She'd been there for over one hour already and they had a lot to talk about. So many things were left unsaid, so many things that they would have to discuss. She wasn't sure about how he would take the news, but something inside her told her it wouldn't be in an easy way. At least, not at the beginning. Not that Temperance Brennan was the kind of woman who would let herself get worried about what her 'guts' told her. Guts could not think, but that completely irrational anxious feeling inside her chest - could it be called fear? – wasn't something she would call pleasant.

She took a sip of the hot chocolate she was holding and stared at two kids running around the pool and laughing loudly as a man – probably their father, she could see the resemblance – tried to catch them. She smiled, but the smile faded away as quickly as it got there. She wished things were as easy as they were during childhood, when your biggest worries were if you'd get that toy you wanted so much and if you'd get all the words spelled right at the dictation at school.

_Would he come?_ She wondered. It was starting to get dark and she wasn't sure she would be able to stay there for much longer, she promised Angela she wouldn't come back late. Even though her friend told her to take how much time she needed and not worry about it, she didn't want to stay away for over three hours.

Her heart skipped a beat when her eyes caught the tall handsome man walking towards her. He was still wearing his fatigues and she noticed he looked better than ever. The days out in the desert and under the warm sun in Afghanistan provided a darker tone to his skin. The daily work out he had to do made an apparent difference in his body. Not that Booth needed to work out more than he already did while working with the FBI. She always thought he was a perfect sample of specimen of the humankind, a very attractive male.

Yes, that was one of the main reasons she got herself in so much trouble in the past years.

She was pretty sure if she had an old and crabby partner, none of that would have happened. But again, if she had someone like that as a partner she probably wouldn't be working with the FBI in the first place. She would mostly likely have quit at their first case and just focus her career in ancient remains.

"Hi, Bones." Brennan jumped startled by his greeting. She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't realize he was already that close to her.

One year. _Three-hundred-and-sixty-five days._

He smiled at her as if they just met the day before and chatted about a case they had solved earlier over a Thai food takeout. Like nothing had happened. Like they didn't spent the past year half a world away without exchanging one single word.

"Hi, Booth." She tried to mirror his smile, but she was so nervous and she wasn't exactly sure about what to say, or what to do. _Should she hug him?_

Booth acted faster and pulled her in one of his guy hugs. It didn't last more than three seconds and when they pulled away, he kept his hands on her upper arms.

"It's been so long." He said, almost not believing they were actually there. So much had happened in the past year. So much had changed. The first months had been so hard he almost thought he wouldn't be able to make the whole year at the base. He missed Parker. He missed _her_.

But she didn't want him to come back. She _wouldn't_ come back. She wanted them to take that year apart to make things work between them again. Their partnership was clearly damaged by the weird feelings they were presenting and they needed that time to get back on track again. He was pissed at her at first. Pissed because of how cold she could be at some things. Pissed at her for making him feel so weak and vulnerable.

But time passed and things got easier. Certainly not talking to her during that whole year helped a lot in the process of healing. Although, he would be lying if he said he didn't think of her very often, even during the last days. _Especially_ during the last days. It didn't hurt anymore and for that he was glad.

"One year." She nodded, trying to read what was going on inside his head.

"One whole revolution around the sun." His lips turned up a little. She looked beautiful. _Healthy_. Her pale skin was a little tanned and she looked like she gained a bit of weight, which surprised him. He was expecting her to skip a lot of meals since he wasn't there to make sure she was eating properly.

They held their gazes for a while and none of them knew exactly what to say. How would you start a conversation with the most important person in your life for five whole years after you spent one year apart without exchanging one single word with each other?

"Want some coffee?" Brennan broke the silence. Booth didn't seem a bit more comfortable than she was.

"Sure." He nodded. "Man, I really missed a good cup of black coffee. Gotta tell you, after one whole year drinking that dirty water those soldiers called coffee, I can even start considering London's tea drinkable."

Brennan chuckled. She was glad those months at the war zone didn't change him _that _much.

"So… how was Indonesia?" Booth asked as they sat at the familiar bench.

"Good." She said simply. "Life changing experience, definitely." She let out an ironically laugh. _He had no idea._

"Awesome. I bet you had a lot of fun exchanging knowledgement with all those squints there." He said smiling genuinely. Of course he didn't want her to go at first, for his own selfish reasons, but he knew the digging in the Maluku Islands was something that really excited her and would make her happy. "Did you find out we are actually an evolution from a very ugly still unnamed creature?"

"We found some really interesting fossils, yes, but the research is far from being done. Although, everything looks very promising." She told him, skipping the part where she went to France a couple of months before her original schedule to stay at the Maluku's was over. "And how was everything in Afghanistan?"

"Nothing really changed since I was there years before. Still sad, still hard to see all those people suffering in a war that shouldn't be happening in the first place." He sighed. "I'm glad to be back and looking forward to return our work and catch the bad guys."

"So am I." She said honestly. She missed so much their field work. "How's Parker?"

"He's great." Booth said proudly of his boy. "He's doing very well at school and was invited to play on the school's soccer team. I didn't have time to see him after I came back yet because I came here right after I left the airport, but I was here to spend Christmas with him and you would not believe how much the kid has grown in those months."

Brennan smiled thinking about the boy. She liked him a lot and missed the little talks they would have time to time. Parker had a genuine interest in science and seemed very interested about everything she had to tell him about the universe and dinosaurs.

Following the awkward silence that surrounded them for the next minute, plus the reminding Parker's mention brought her and the fact that her breasts were getting sore – meaning someone in the other side of town would be screaming the lungs out at Angela's house – Brennan decided it was time to tell Booth.

"Booth…" She started, not sure of how to start that conversation she was trying to postpone for so long. But he had to know. It was not like she could hide it. He would find out sooner or later. "I have something to tell you."

"Okay." He swallowed his coffee, enjoying the pure taste of it. "I have something to tell you too."

"You do?" She raised one eyebrow curiously.

"Yep." He looked at her.

"Is it good?"

"I guess so." He smiled.

"Okay." She nodded and waited for him to tell her, but he looked at her as if expecting her to do the same. "Won't you tell me what it is?"

"I thought you had something to tell me." He reminded her.

"You can go first." She suggested. She was pretty sure her news would lead to a_ long _conversation.

"Okay." He looked away from her and stared at the people leaving the mall as the sun was almost completely gone. He had to tell her, right? It wasn't like he could hide it from her. She would find out sooner or later. "Bones." He looked back at her. "I'm getting married."

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**Oh! You don't need to throw those tomatoes at me! It's really kind of mean, you know that, right?**

**Well, I won't continue this and will just keep writing only my other story if no one cares about what happens next, so, if you want to know how things will turn out and how the hell Booth is getting married, let me know! :)**

**Oh, and all the questions you probably have will be answered in the next chapters and in flashbacks, don't worry.**


	2. Heartcrushing News

**Oh my God! You guys are amazing! I never thought people liked angst so much! LOL**

**I think never a story of mine got so many reviews and alerts on the first chapter, but I gotta tell you that made me **_**really**_** excited and I wrote a LOT yesterday after reading all those amazing reviews. I'm so glad I left everyone curious! Hehehe**

**I was expecting everyone would hate the whole Booth is getting married thing, so, I'm really happy you are interested to keep reading even if there's a third person in this.**

**I'll admit this story is one of the hardest things I've ever written, my little heart gets squished the whole time while I'm writing the chapters. :(

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Brennan had to take a couple of seconds to regain her brain activity before she could react at what her former partner had just informed her.

_Married_. He was getting _married_.

She felt like someone had punched her at the stomach. Even though she was very supportive of the idea of Booth moving on with someone and start having his own family – _wasn't that what she told him she wanted for him? _- Brennan couldn't help feeling her heart being stake now that it was actually coming true. So many things changed in the past year, but Booth tying the knot with a stranger woman was not something she was expecting to hear at their first meeting after all those months apart.

A girlfriend, yeah, she supposed it was a very likely possibility. _But a fiancée?_

That changed_ everything_.

Because Booth would never marry someone unless he was certain he loved her or, at least, had great chances to end up loving her down the road.

"Bones?" He called her, a bit worried by how pale she suddenly got. "Are you okay?"

"I- I'm fine." She was able to say. "Just weary because of the long flight."

_Liar_.

She'd came back from Paris a week before to make sure all the work being done at her apartment would be complete till the time she schedule to move back. She was staying at Angela and Hodgins' at the moment and she was pretty sure she would never be able to thank her friends enough for all the support they've been giving her lately. She didn't even want to think what she would have done if she hadn't had Angela and Hodgins by her side, especially in the past months. "So… you're getting married?"

"Yeah." He smiled, but even oblivious Brennan could notice he was uncomfortable to share those news with her.

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised by that." She sighed. "But I am."

Both of them were avoiding the other's eyes. _Was this supposed to be this awkward?_

"Everything happened so fast." He looked down to his feet. He couldn't wait to go home and take off his combat boots.

"No kidding…" Brennan snorted. "Are you happy?"

That was the most important thing and she wanted to know. She _needed _to know.

"Yes." Booth lifted his head but kept his eye focused in the obelisk in the other side of the reflecting pool, now illuminated since it was already dark. "I'm happy."

Brennan knew she wasn't supposed to feel sad about that, she should be glad her friend finally found what he was looking for, but she couldn't help feeling a knot in her throat. She was horrible for not wanting to have him at that part of her life – or maybe that was how she felt one year before – but also hoping he would never move on to someone else, but Brennan knew that after Booth got married, things between them would never be the same ever again.

He wouldn't have lunch with her every day at the Royal Diner. He wouldn't show up at the lab at eleven pm with a takeout bag to make sure she was eating properly and then giving her a ride back at home, after she complained and told him she had a lot of work to finish and he gave her a thirty minute speech of how useless she would be during the next day if she didn't rest at least a little bit. They wouldn't have late night conversations at her or his apartment over a bottle of liquor nor would she be able to call him in the middle of the night after she had a bad dream and needed someone to soothe her. It wouldn't be appropriated.

_Because now Booth would have a wife._

Booth would have a wife and, she was very sure about it, a whole family to care about. He wouldn't be able to focus most of his time in his cold hearted partner anymore and make sure she was out of trouble. Not that she wanted him to do that. It wouldn't be fair. Not after she crushed his heart. _Twice._

He deserved to have a happy normal life with the family he longed for such a long time. He didn't need a damaged woman who thought she would never be able to love him the way he deserved to be loved.

"How is she like?" She managed to open a smile.

"Hannah is great." Brennan noticed his face lighted up when he thought of his fiancée. "She's a journalist and was embedded in my unit back in Afghanistan. She's also from Washington and we ended up starting talking because of that. It was nice to talk with someone so close to home." He smiled remembering the day the journalist approached him and tried to cheer him up with silly jokes. It was about two months after he moved to the unit and when he was almost giving everything up and coming back to the States. Hannah was one of the reasons he was able to finish his agreement with the government and finish his work there. "We became very good friends and a couple of months after that our unit was attacked and she was taken as a hostage." His eyes got darken with the remembrance. "It took me a week to find and rescue her, one week I believe I didn't have any sleep at all. That was when I realized I wanted her to be more than my friend. Those things bring people close together, you know?"

Of course she knew! How many times had _she_ rescued _him_? How many times had _he_ rescued _her_? More than they could count on their fingers, that's for sure.

"We've been together since that unfortunate event, which thankfully had a happy ending. Hannah shares the same views of life that I do. She comes from a catholic family and wants to be married at the Church. She wants to settle down and have a family, maybe a house in the mountains where we can spend the weekends with the kids." Brennan swallowed hard trying to not allow the stubborn tears to fall from her eyes. She hoped she wasn't so hormonal at that moment; it all would be much easier if she wasn't. "I didn't see a reason to wait to get married. We got engaged about three months ago."

"Does Parker already know about it?" was the only thing she managed to ask. She felt grateful that her voice came out steady.

"He knows about Hannah, but not about the wedding." He leaned back at the bench. "But I don't think he'll react badly about it. He was the one who kept saying I needed to sex up and get myself a girlfriend, right?" He chuckled remembering that day when his little boy asked every woman he worked with to be his girlfriend, including Bones.

"But that was only because he wanted a pool." Brennan reminded him. "Does Hannah have a pool?"

"I don't know, Bones… I just arrived back here in DC." Booth creased his forehead. "But we'll probably buy a house with a pool once we are already married, so that won't really be a problem."

They would buy a house together. _Of course they would, what are you thinking, Temperance? Didn't you hear when he said he wanted to settle down and have a family?_

"He can always use my pool, you know that." Brennan told Booth. "I know it's been quite a while but I'm pretty sure it's still working perfectly and being cleaned often. I kept paying the building taxes while I was away."

"Thanks, Bones. I'm sure he'll be happy to hear about it. He's been asking me a lot about you since we traveled. He misses you." He met her eyes for the first time since he announced his engagement.

"I miss him too." She said holding his gaze. "He's a lovely boy."

"Maybe we can go have lunch at the diner this week? I bet he would be thrilled about it." Booth said. "And you also have to meet Hannah. She said she's looking forward to meet the famous Bones."

_Another punch in the stomach_. Did he really want them to meet? Would he _really_ torture her making her have lunch with his son and future wife? Didn't he think for a moment that she would feel like an outsider during that? Like someone spoiling their happy family moment?

"Yeah. We can do that, I think." She agreed. _What else could she say?_

"Great. You know what I really missed?" He asked.

_Me?, _she wanted to ask, but that was completely ridiculous.

"What?" She asked, more to be polite than because she really cared.

"The diner's pie." He opened a delighted smile.

_Of course._

She chuckled. "It's amazing you survived a whole year without your daily pie dose."

"Right?" He grinned at her, feeling relaxed for the first time during that encounter.

They stood like that for a moment, just smiling at each other and pretending the past year and a half never happened, and they were just Booth and Bones, partners and best friends with no awkwardness or misunderstood feelings between them.

"So." Booth broke the silence.

"So what?" She asked confused.

"You told me you had something to tell me." He took a sip from his coffee and grimaced when he realized it was cold. "Spill it."

_Oh God_.

How could she possibly tell him now? He was obviously happy with the course his life was taking. She couldn't be the one to mess with his life._ Not again_. Not when Booth finally was getting everything he ever wanted. Not when he finally moved on. She would have to find a way to make things work between them but, right now, she had no idea how that would happen.

So, she would tell him the truth in another opportunity. _Whenever that might be._

"It's nothing really that important…" Brennan said. _She wishes._

"It's not? You looked very concerned when you told me you had something to tell me." He knitted his brows surprised.

_Damn_. Sometimes she wished he wasn't so good at reading people.

"I just… I know we agreed to come back to work next week, but I'm really tired and I was hoping I could take another week off to visit Russ and the girls before coming back to the Jeffersonian and start tracing murderers with you." She lied.

"That's it?" Booth let out a laugh. "Oh, Bones, you really haven't change, have you? Always the workaholic."

"Do you think they'll get you another partner if I don't come back when I originally said I would?" She asked, now actually concerned. She didn't want to lose their partnership. Wasn't for the sake of it that they took that sabbatical year in the first place?

"Of course not, Bones. They know pretty well that I wouldn't work with anyone else." He assured her and saw the relief washing over her face.

He missed her. God knew how much he missed his Bones. Of course, Hannah made the pain in his heart hurt one hundred times less, but still, that woman sitting next to him was his best friend. No matter how much she had hurt him in the past, he would never stop caring about her.

"You know, Bones." He reached out and took her hand in his. Brennan shivered with the unexpected touch. She looked up at him with her surprised eyes wide opened, realizing he also perceived the electric current that passed through their bodies once their skins touched. "Things don't have to change between us. Remember what we talked about that night? Once we came back, we would be the old Booth and Brennan. You'll always be my amazing partner and my friend, no matter what happens."

Brennan smiled sadly.

"Everything changes, Booth." She bit her lower hips. "It's inevitable."

"They don't have to…" He tried.

"They already did." She said conformed. It was irrational to mourn over something that was impossible to change. She just had to accept it and move on.

Brennan felt her breasts aching again and hoped her baby accepted the bottle easily. It was the first time she spent more than three hours away from her child and some infants rejected the bottles, being used to be only breastfed.

"I have to go, Booth." She finally said, releasing her hand from his grasp. "I'm really tired and I promised to visit my father tomorrow morning."

"Of course." He nodded. "How's Max?"

"He's fine." She said. "Behaving well, as far as I know."

"Good." Booth smiled. "Do you want me to tell the FBI about your extended vacation week?"

"Sure, I would appreciate that." Another week would be good for her to decide what to do about her situation.

"Ok, then." _Awkward silence_. "Do you need a ride?"

"No, I'm fine. My car is parked right there." She pointed at a silver Volvo parked a few meters away from them. "Tell Parker I said 'hi'."

"I will." He nodded. "Bye, Bones."

"Bye, Booth."

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**=(**

**Are you sad?**

**Are you still curious about how they got themselves in all that mess?**

**Next chapter might explain part of it…**

**Stay with me and enjoy the road!**


	3. Bittersweet

**And this is another chapter in this angst story.**

**Thank you so much for everyone who alerted this story and especially the ones who reviewed. If this story is getting the chapters so fast is because of you. You really have no idea how much I want to write more when I get so many feedback. So, really, THANK YOU.**

**I'll admit this was the most painful for me to write, all of everything I ever wrote.**

**But remember… all the good things happen eventually. ;)**

**And now a loooong chapter for you!**

**Oh, and it's mostly a flashback. I didn't put the flashback part in italic because it was really long and I think it's more comfortable to read with the normal letter...

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Temperance Brennan broke down as soon as she entered her car. Everything was _so_ wrong. She didn't expect things to go perfectly. She stopped believing in fairytales and happy endings long ago. More than anyone, she knew life was anything but easy and that happiness was a very relative concept. She had learnt at a very young age how much it hurt when someone you love hurt you and that was why she spent most of her life protecting herself and her heart.

She was doing a pretty good job at it until he appeared in her life. And that was when she discovered the best and the worst things in life. Also, she found out you never get something for free, no matter what it is, there's a price one day you'll have to pay for that little moment of joy.

Breathing in and out trying to recover – she couldn't come back home like that. She read the baby could feel the mother's tension and a few weeks ago that was proved when her baby wouldn't stop crying as she worried about her comeback to DC.

For what felt the hundredth time in the past year, she remembered that infamous night before Booth left for the base.

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**FLASHBACK – ONE YEAR AGO

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Seeley Booth was finishing packing his things to take them to the base and later the unit he would be staying at Afghanistan when he heard a knock on his door.

Glancing at the alarm clock lying on his nightstand he noticed it was almost one in the morning. There were only two options of who would be breaking down into his apartment that late at night: the first would be a thief, the second would be Bones. Since he was pretty sure a thief wouldn't knock on the door, it just left him the second one.

Zipping up his luggage and placing it near his bedroom door, he walked to the door.

"Bones." He looked surprised to see her standing there, even though he already knew who it was before he opened the door. "What are you doing here?"

She was wearing one of the outfits she left at the Jeffersonian for those times she had to stay there till late and take a shower to go somewhere else, not having to waste time going home. Her hair was still a bit wet and by the shadows he could see under her eyes, he had no doubts she'd been working till now.

"You're going to the base tomorrow, Booth." She walked into the apartment without waiting for an invitation. That place became so familiar to her that she almost felt it was her second home. _Or maybe third._ Between her own apartment and the Jeffersonian, she wasn't sure which one she considered her first home. Probably the lab. She definitely spent more time there than at her house. "I couldn't let you go without saying goodbye."

He nodded his head, glad that she went there. They haven't talk much since they announced their decision to travel to different parts of the world and he was feeling extremely bad for leaving without making things right with Brennan.

"You hungry?" Booth asked her. "I don't have much in the fridge since I'm leaving tomorrow, but I guess there's enough for a sandwich."

"No, that's okay… I stopped at the diner before I came here." She told him. He could tell she was lying, but he didn't push her. Bickering in their last night together for the next 365 days wasn't really on his plans.

"Okay." He said after no one said a thing. "So, what do you want to do?"

"I don't know." She didn't really know what brought her to his apartment. But she just felt like she couldn't let him go without a proper farewell. "Maybe we could talk?" She suggested.

"Sure." He nodded and pointed at his couch with his head, as telling her to sit. "Beer?"

She accepted the offer and sat at his couch while he went to the kitchen, coming back with two bottles in his hands.

They clinked the bottles together and Brennan drank almost half of hers on the first gulp. _Someone was really anxious_, Booth thought.

"I acknowledge the fact that things have been… awkward between us since that day we told Sweets the story of our first case." She said staring at nothing. "You opened up about your feelings and I believe I didn't react the way you hoped I would."

"Bones…" He didn't want to get into that again.

She shook her head as asking him to not interrupt her.

"It clearly affected our work relationship, as much as we pretended everything was still the same." She said. "I've been thinking about it for a long time now and I came to a conclusion."

"You did?" Booth looked at her confused.

She nodded.

"It's undeniable there's a very intense sexual tension between us." Brennan turned around to look at him when she said that. "It's been there since the first time we worked together. We spent one year apart and it was still there once we came back, but we manage to work pretty well around it… until that night out of the Hoover's building."

"I- I don't know where you are going with this, Bones…" Booth said sincerely.

"I believe that most of this tension is a result of the frustration both of us had to deal at the first night we went out together, when I asked you to have sex with me and then backed off." She continued. "Given that fact and reading a lot about sexual tension, I concluded there's only one way we'll manage to still work together and maintain our partnership the way it's supposed to be."

"Can I ask you what would be that way?" Booth asked, genuinely curious.

"We have to have sex." She blurted out.

Booth choked with his beer. "_What?_"

"It's obvious, Booth. Until we finally do it, this tension will never go away and in consequence, I hardly doubt we'll ever be able to work together again. Once it's over and our curiosities and libidos satisfied, we can be the partners and friends we used to be." She said as if it was that simple.

Booth couldn't believe in what she was saying. Did she really think they would be able to stay only partners and friends after they slept together? Could she really be that cold to play with his feelings like that? Or was she really that naïve and actually believed in her stupid theory?

"I'm not going to have sex with you, Bones." He said seriously. "Not in those circumstances."

"Why not?" She couldn't understand why he was acting like that.

"Because I don't believe what we have in here is only sexual tension." He said, his eyes getting darker and staring intensely at her. "And you know that as well."

Brennan swallowed. She felt like a little lamb being threatened by a lion.

"I'll never be able to give you what you want, Booth." She said, her voice almost a whisper.

"Then I think we'll have to deal with this intense sexual tension for a long time, because I'm not going to make love with you-" He noticed that her eyes doubled their sizes once he said those words. "Yes, Bones, when it happens, we'll make love. Not sex. _Love_."

She felt a knot in her throat. She didn't know how a guy like him fell in love with her. Or at least, thought he fell in love with her. People didn't like her. She was boring and she didn't know how to talk to people. She was weird.

The nicknames she got throughout her life were enough evidence of that: _Morticia, Cold Fish, Obnoxious Bone Lady, _just to name a few_._

Booth had to realize she would never be a perfect match for him and she had no doubts it would never happen unless she proved that to him. But to prove that, they had to put that tension they created six years before to rest.

"You're going to a war zone, Booth." She lifted her teary eyes to look at him. "Even though you're not going to the battlefield, it would be naïve to believe you would be 100% safe there. You wouldn't be 100% even if you stayed here." The scare in her face made his heart twist inside his chest. He had to fight hard against his urge to wrap her with his arms and bring her to his chest and comfort her. "I'm going to an Island and even with all the security we'll have there, there are always accidents that can happen."

Booth's face turned white. He never really thought about that. Just the thought of losing his Bones in an accident in a dig made his body quiver.

"What I'm trying to say, Booth, is that none of us know what will happen after tomorrow." She looked down before taking the courage to look at him again. "And I don't want to die thinking we never took the chance to see what we really have in here."

The lonely tear that ran down her cheek brought all his barriers down and the next thing he knew, his lips were crashing onto hers in the most intense kiss both of them ever shared. All the sane thoughts, all the reasons why he would never sleep with her unless they were getting into something more, all those vanished from his brain once he felt her sweet lips against his once again. She was devouring his mouth and he was trying to keep up with her rhythm. It didn't take long for him to grab her in his arms and take her to his bedroom, knowing he would certainly regret that little slip of craziness right after reality sank in again, but not being able to stop himself.

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She was lying with her head rested on his bare chest, his arms wrapping her body while none of them talked, both completely lost in their own thoughts.

_It wasn't supposed to feel that way,_ she closed her eyes releasing the tears that were willing to fall. It wasn't supposed to be the most amazing night of her life. It wasn't supposed to feel so good. It wasn't supposed to feel so _right_.

It was supposed to be bad and weird, so it would be obvious for them they would never work as a couple. But now, lying there hearing his heartbeats, Brennan had no doubts that was where she belonged, right there, in his warm embrace.

_Except that she knew better than that._ None of that would last forever. Life showed her that whenever you think everything is working out perfectly, you get your butt kicked and are reminded that it is far from perfect. And even though they seemed to be perfect in bed, Brennan knew they would end up fighting all the time when they weren't satisfying sexual desires. _Because that's how they were_. They were way too different. And before they knew it, their lives would be miserable and they would end up hating each other.

So, since she knew Booth would not be the one to make the rational decision, she had to do it.

Lifting her head, she pressed her lips on his mouth, in a very bittersweet kiss. As tears fell down her face, she kept reminding herself she was doing that for their own sake. Booth deserved to be happy and she would never be able to be everything he wanted.

_She was way too damaged._

"You have to forget me." She murmured against his lips.

"_What_?" He opened his brown eyes surprised. "What the hell you are saying, Bones?"

Wasn't she there with him for the past hours? How on Earth could she think he would _ever_ be able to forget what just happen between them?

"You are amazing, Booth." She sniffed and rolled off him. "You're the best guy I've ever met."

"What are you trying to tell me, Bones?" He asked worried.

"You deserve everything you want." She bit her lips. It was harder than she imagined it would be. "You deserve a real life, Booth, a happy life, one where there are more than mayhem and pain on it. A family, a loving wife, someone you can take to the Mass on Sunday mornings, someone you can make comments about TV shows or movies, someone who will help you cook Christmas dinner and wrap the kid's presents to put under the tree, pretending it was Santa Klaus." She wiped her tears with the back of her hands. "I can't be that person."

"I don't give a fucking care about those things! I want _you_, Temperance!" _Damn._ How could a woman who called herself a genius be so stupid and blind? "I don't want anyone else."

She shook her head 'no'.

"You say that now." She sat up on the bed and started picking up her clothes. "But I know better and believe me when I say I'm doing what is the best for us."

"You don't know what is the best for us!" Booth was getting really angry. "You can't possibly know when we didn't even _try_!"

"_I don't want that life, Booth!_" She almost yelled, not even trying to hide her sobs. "You have to move on, like you said to me that day. You're going to find a woman who will love you for the next 30, 40, 50 years. I can't be that woman. I made a choice years ago and I'm standing by it."

"Bones…" He was crying too and he was not ashamed. It wouldn't hurt more if she opened his chest without anesthesia and took his heart out, stepped on it and left it bleeding on the floor.

"We have two options, Booth." She said in a calmer tone. "We can move on and deal with what happened today and one year from now meet again and resume our partnership, or we can take completely different ways in our lives. I know you have Parker here and would never abandon him for more time than necessary, but I have no doubts I can find a job anywhere in the world."

As much as the picture of living with her every day without being able to actually _have_ her killed him inside, the idea of never seeing her again was much, _much_ worse.

If he didn't know her better, he would try to convince her that they could make things work out between them. But that was Dr. Temperance Brennan, the biggest beetled-head Booth had ever met and he knew nothing he could say would make her change her mind. On the contrary, trying to convince her would probably just scare her away.

So, he took his only option and prayed to God to give him enough strength to survive that.

"One year from today, we're going to meet at the reflecting pool on the mall, right by the coffee cart." He managed to say. "We'll meet and we'll pretend this never happened." His heart ached when he said that. "We'll be just Booth and Bones, the best team the FBI had and two partners who will never stop bickering over the silliest things."

Brennan nodded her head, biting her lips while still weeping. "Thank you, Booth."

"Don't." His expression became dark. "You know this is not how I wanted this to be."

"I know." She looked down sadly. "I better go. Tomorrow you'll have to wake up early to go to the base. Please be careful, Booth. _Please_."

He stood up and stop right in front of her, wiping her tears with his fingers. "I'll try to sneak out of the base to tell you goodbye before you fly away to Indonesia and all of this is really over." He leaned down to capture her lips in a last, painful kiss.

"Goodbye, Bones." He said brushing her jaw with his thumb when they pulled away.

"Goodbye, Booth." She turned away to leave and he called her one more time.

"Bones."

"Yes?" She looked at him.

"Please, don't make any contact with me during this year." He begged. "It will kill me not knowing how you are or just not being able to talk to you, but I won't be able to work things out if we keep talking during those months. I won't be able to move on if I know you're just one click or one phone call away. So, please, just _don't _try to contact me."

Brennan nodded her head. They needed that. They needed that time completely away from each other to rebuild themselves.

It would be for their best.

Without any other word, she turned around on her heels and left.

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**END OF FLASHBACK

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***ducks***

***lifts heads slowly and passes kleenex box***

**I made the mistake of watching the end scene of the season finale after writing this chapter and I'm not gonna lie it depressed me beyond words. I don't know about you, but I think it makes sense to read this and see their pain in their faces on that scene, especially Booth, who looked kind of mad for the situation and Brennan, who looked miserable and kind of guilty. If you have your heart still intact watch it after this chapter and see if you get to the same conclusion. :)**

**Ah, and pleeeease, don't forget to review!**

**Don't make me beg, please. *****bats eyelashes***


	4. Mommy Bones

**A lot of people asked about Angela and if she knew the baby was Booth's. Also, if the baby is a boy or a girl.**

**You'll find a lot of those answers in this update!**

**Thank you so much for all the lovely reviews! ****They made my day!

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"Where's Booth?" Angela stretched her neck looking for Booth as Brennan entered the front door of the mansion. She was one hundred percent sure he would run to her house to see the baby once Brennan told him about it. It was _Booth, _for heaven's sake! Even if he got super mad at Brennan for not telling him about it before, there was no way he would not go right away to their house to meet his kid.

"He's not coming." Brennan said simply, not willing to share the news with her friend yet. "Where's Tommy? Is he okay?"

"What do you mean with 'he's not coming'?" Angela creased her forehead. There was only one explanation for Booth not being there at that moment: Brennan did not tell him about their son. "_You didn't tell him_! I can't believe you chicken out, Brennan! You promised you would tell him everything!"

"I don't know what that means, but it's a long story, Angela, and I'll tell every single detail, I promise. Just… not now, okay?" Brennan looked so exhausted and like she was trying hard not to cry that Angela decided to not push her friend. Whatever she and Booth talked about, it obviously didn't end up the way Brennan wanted. "I just want to see my baby."

"He's with Hodgins in the guest room. He just fell asleep." Angela smiled thinking of the adorable baby boy. "He was crying a lot and wouldn't accept the bottle, but I guess the hunger won him over, because when he finally started sucking that bottle he just let it go when it was completely empty. No wonder he's so chubby." Angela chuckled. "Besides that, he behaved like a real angel."

"I missed him so much." Brennan opened a sad smile. "It's completely irrational since I saw him four hours ago and I knew he was under your care, but I did miss him."

"It's natural, Bren, he's been with you all the time for the past year." Angela looked at her friend sympathetically. She knew how much Brennan was hurting and how confused she was and felt impotent for not being able to help her. She couldn't tell her that things didn't have to be that difficult, that she and Booth could be happy and raise their child together, because if there was something she had no doubts was that those two loved each other more than anything in the world. But Brennan still didn't believe in that. She still didn't believe she could give Booth what they deserved and until she could see by herself that she was the best thing for him, there was nothing anyone could do. "Tommy missed you too. He was doing that adorable pouting thing, you know, that he does when he is not feeling bad, but just wants to snuggle with his mommy?"

"I'm his food provider and he lived inside me for nine months, it's not surprising that feels attached to me." Brennan explained.

"And you just love that." Angela grinned. It was amazing to see her rational 'I'm-never-going-to-have-kids' friend falling completely in love with motherhood.

"I do." Brennan grinned thinking of the little baby that gave her strength to go on with her life. "Now let me go to see him, I really need my baby right now."

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"How was it, Dr. B?" Hodgins asked when the two women entered the guest room. Thomas was sleeping peacefully in the middle of the king sized bed, wearing his comfortable Dumbo pajamas his Auntie Angela bought him at Disney Store. Brennan told her friend that her three-month old baby had more clothes and shoes than he would probably be able to wear before they got too small, but Angela answered she just couldn't resist and that he would look so adorable on it. Also, it was her duty as his godmother to spoil him.

"She didn't tell him." Angela answered before Brennan could open her mouth and gave her husband a glance as to not ask. Hodgins got the message and just nodded his head. "Brennan is really tired, we should give her time to rest."

Brennan looked at her friend and smiled thanking her silently. If she was wrong and there actually existed a place like heaven, her friend would definitely be there once her life in Earth ended.

"Good night, Sweetie, you know you can call me if you need anything." Angela said and squeezed her friend's upper arm as saying everything would be okay.

"I think I'll never be able to thank you enough for all you guys have been doing for me." Brennan said with a knot in her throat.

"Don't even think about it, Brennan, you know we would do anything for you and Tommy. We love you and we are your friends and it's not a problem at all to have you guys here with us. I'm actually pretty sure I'll miss you like hell when you move back to your apartment." Angela guaranteed.

"Angie is right, I'm really going to miss the little guy." Hodgins smiled goofily at the asleep baby. "And you too, of course, but I think you know what I mean-" He added when he realized what he said.

"I do." Brennan smiled. "But really, I'll always be grateful."

"You know, as long as you make sure Tommy says we are his favorite uncle and aunt, it's all good." Angela joked.

"Yeah, and even though Jared has that motorcycle of his, I have much cooler cars." Hodgins reminded. "And-" His face lightened up as he thought of something. "Maybe if he wants, I can even buy him a motorcycle. I saw some kids' one another day at the store."

Brennan raised one eyebrow.

"You know I'm not going to let you bribe my kid giving him a motorcycle, right?" She asked. "Not to mention how dangerous those vehicles are." She said in such a motherly tone that it almost made Angela laugh. _A woman who let his partner through knifes at her saying a motorcycle was dangerous._

"Come on, Bren, I don't want to be his nerdy uncle who plays with bugs and slime, I want to be super cool Uncle Hodgins." He frowned.

"Children usually appreciate a lot to play with nasty things like slime, Hodgins, so I guess you'll be fine till he's at least like, eight." Brennan said thoughtfully and Hodgins ignored the fact she just called slime 'nasty'. "But I'm pretty sure he already loves you." She guaranteed. "Besides me, the only people who actually are around him often are you and Ange. He already recognizes you."

"You think?" Hodgins asked flattered and looked at the baby.

"Of course." Brennan smiled.

"Come on, baby, stop bothering Brennan and Tommy and just let's go to our room and start practicing to make our own little bundle of joy." Angela teased, pulled him by the shirt and gave Brennan a wink. "Night, Sweetie."

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Brennan took a long hot shower and put on her most comfortable pajamas before lying next to her sleeping baby and just started thinking about everything that happened in the past year. She thought about calling him after she discovered the pregnancy, of course. She thought about it _tons of times_. But even though she considered herself a very courageous woman, she was scared. _Scared about raising that child._ She _did_ want to have a baby, but she never planned to have one while in the middle of a dig in an island in Indonesia. _Scared about Booth's reaction when he found out about it_. She might not be excellent at reading people - she was actually pretty bad on that - but she knew how much she had hurt Booth that night when she left his apartment. Besides, he begged her to not contact him during that year. But the main reason of why she kept quiet about her pregnancy was because she knew Booth. He would make a huge deal about it, probably fly over to Indonesia and bring her back to DC, even if she said vehemently she wanted to stay there and do her job until the baby comes.

She didn't want to come back just yet. She still believed in everything she had told him that night. Having a child didn't change anything. She was still uncertain about how she felt about him and just because she was carrying his son in her womb it didn't mean she had made a decision about what she would do about their relationship. She still thought Booth should go on with his life and pursuit his happiness.

And she still needed that time away to figure out what she wanted for her future.

Brennan brushed Tommy's soft cheek and smiled as her boy started moving, as recognizing his mother was back.

"Hi, handsome." She whispered when he opened his big blue eyes at her and showed that delighted smile that melted her heart when he realized it was his mother the person standing there next to him. "Did you miss me? Because I missed you quite a lot."

She smiled as he stared at her, like he was listening and understanding every word she said. Brennan knew it was kind of stupid to talk to the baby about everything, but she liked the feeling of opening up with someone who wouldn't judge her, just listen to every word she said and then comfort her with his lovely eyes and warm smile.

Besides, talking to him often would be a good way to improve his future vocabulary. Brennan wasn't a defender of the baby talk. She thought it was dumb and delayed the kid's learning.

"I met your dad today." She told him, brushing his almost bald head besides some auburn streaks of hair. He didn't look much like any of his parents, Brennan thought he was just a perfect combination of her and Booth's genes. "I'm sorry I didn't tell him about you yet." She apologized sincerely. "I'm sure he's going to love you as much as I do. He's an amazing father."

The baby grabbed her index finger and tried to bring it to his mouth.

"But things just got too complicated and I couldn't tell him yet. Grown up's life is very difficult." She pursed her lips. "I'm well aware much of this is my fault. I'm really not an easy person. Things I've been through in my life made me believe loving someone just hurts you in the end. I think I just proved that, because I hurt your father pretty badly. I hope he'll be able to forgive me someday."

Brennan wiped a tear from her eye.

"I was going to tell him about you today and I have no doubts he would be the most incredible father for you, no matter how much he hates me for keeping you away from him till now." The baby joint his hands, still holding her finger in between them and staring at it confused. "But he told me he's getting married and I just didn't know what to do. I can't mess with his life again now that he's finally happy." She just realized what she said. "Not that I think you won't be a joy for him, you _will." How could such a pure and innocent child like that adorable baby _not_ be a joy to someone? "_But because that will probably bring issues between him and his fiancée, who I believe must be someone very nice, he wouldn't want to marry her otherwise."

Her heart ached. He moved on. She told him a million times that was what she wanted for him, but now that it became reality she felt like her heart was being ripped apart.

Thomas started whimpering and pouted, just the way Brennan knew he did before crying out loud wanting to be breastfed.

"I know. The idea of him getting married also isn't pleasing to me." Brennan said taking the baby in her arms. "But I don't know what to do just yet. Do you have any idea, baby Tommy?" Brennan chuckled as the boy grabbed her nipple and started sucking like he hasn't been breastfed for a long time. "You have such an incredible appetite. Just like your father." She frowned. "He also showed a very interesting appreciation for my breast." She smiled.

She stared at her son, wondering how much Booth would love to be there and realizing how much she _wanted_ him to be there.

"Oh, honey, how did I get myself in all this mess?" She wiped another stubborn tear.

Whatever she decided to do, she had to do it fast. In a week she would be back to work and she was pretty sure she wouldn't be able to keep a baby a secret from Booth. Not when they worked together over 8 hours a day.

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**I'm sorry if Brennan went a bit out of character in this… but I think motherhood softens people and since we don't see Brennan in personal time, wondering about her problems, I thought it would be nice to do it here. And I can see her opening up for someone who can't judge her.**

**Anyway, I just think she would be pretty close to her baby boy.**

**I always thought Booth and Brennan should have a girl, but interesting enough, the baby in this story came out as a boy in my head. Maybe because I just finished a story where they had a girl, maybe because I love mother/son – father/daughter relationships and this story is focusing more in Brennan's side. **

**But most of anything, I think the biggest inspiration for this story is my own blue-eyed auburn hair cutie that I have in my family. He's my three month old baby cousin and simply the cutest baby I've ever seen.**

**Now I should sit my butt here for some more hours and write an update for The Partners in Denial…**

**PLEASE, REVIEW! =D**


	5. Conversations

**Thank you so much for all the alerts and reviews! I'm so happy with all the interest in this story! =D**

**This chapter wasn't easy to write. **_**Especially **_**the first part of it…**

**Enjoy!

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"How did it go, honey?" The pretty blonde woman asked when Booth entered his apartment later that night. He gave Hannah the keys for his home before he went to meet Brennan. By the way things looked at the living room, his fiancée had already done a very good job cleaning and organizing all the stuff in the place.

After Brennan left him at the mall, Booth wandered around the city thinking about everything that just happened in there.

He was afraid of what would happen now and even though they were far from what he wanted, he concluded it could have been way worse than that. He noticed Brennan didn't take the news of Hannah very well and he was actually surprised that she admitted she wasn't expecting that. Well, even he was surprised by how fast things went with Hannah, but he was almost forty already, it wasn't like he still had a lot of time to waste.

But it was understandable that his partner wouldn't be very happy about him getting married. Sweets wasn't wrong when he said a couple of years before that he and Brennan had a surrogate relationship. So, when one of them found a significant other, it was natural to feel jealousy. Booth knew that pretty well. He wanted to shoot every single guy who dated Brennan or even dared to flirt with her. Although, it wasn't a shock for him, he had been in love with her for so long that it pissed him that everyone but him had a chance with his girl.

"It wasn't exactly how I wanted it to be, but it could have been worse." Booth sighed and sat at his couch. "Bones was my best friend, you know? It really hurts me when I think we'll never be the same again."

"You never told me what made you guys fight." Hannah placed her hand over his as if showing she was there to support him.

"We didn't fight." Booth closed his eyes, trying to not bring the memories of the best and at the same time worst night of his life back to his mind. "Maybe that was the problem. There was no fight." There was acceptance. She didn't want to give them a try and he didn't fight for her. _He was a coward_. He thought fighting with her would make him lose her forever, but now he felt like he had lost her anyway.

"But there was obviously something really big that happened between you two. Two friends just don't go to different sides of the world for one entire year and don't exchange a word." Hannah said confused. She respected the fact that Booth wanted to keep the reason of his shattered relationship with his partner to himself, but that didn't mean that she didn't run some scenarios over her head herself. The one that seemed to be the most likely was the one she liked the least: that he was in love with her and she rejected him.

"We needed a break. We weren't working as well as before and Bones wanted to take some time away from all the pain and mayhem we had been dealing for the past five years." Booth explained, wisely skipping the whole reason _why_ they weren't working as well as before from it. "The Gravedigger trial was finally over and I believe we all from the team needed some time to breathe."

"You call going to a war in Afghanistan getting some time to breathe?" Hannah smiled sympathetically. Sometimes she wished she could just take his pain away, but she felt like Booth wouldn't open himself enough to allow her to help him.

"Well… it wasn't all that bad was it?" He looked at her and smirked. "I met _you_."

"That's true." Hannah leaned down and kissed him lightly on the lips. "Maybe I should thank this Bones for wanting to take a vacation."

"Don't call her Bones." Booth said quickly, his eyes turning darker and suddenly pulling apart from her embrace. The woman looked at him puzzled at his reaction. She was just joking. "I mean, when you meet her, don't call her Bones. She hates it, or usually hated it, she had to get use to it since I would call her that anyway, but she makes sure everyone else calls her Dr. Brennan. Bones loves to brag about her three doctorates." He smiled at the memory of his partner rubbing her doctorates at people's face in whatever opportunity she got. Especially if it was to someone who though he was smarter or better than the rest of the world.

"Okay." Hannah creased her forehead. If there was something she learnt during those months she was dating Booth was that she shouldn't push him when the subject was Dr. Temperance Brennan. It was a _very _delicate subject.

"Don't get me wrong, it's just that I don't want you to get her antipathy right after you meet her. I've already told you Bones is not like everyone else." Booth told his fiancée. That was one of the reasons he liked Brennan so much. She didn't mind about what other people thought about her, she just would do whatever she thought was the right thing or say whatever came to her mind not thinking about the consequences. Of course, sometimes that could get them in trouble or make Booth incredibly embarrassed, but still, to him, it was a very good quality. "People who don't really know her usually don't like her very much at first."

"I'll keep that in mind." Hannah assured him. "Don't worry, Seeley, I'll do my best to get her affection. I know how much she means to you."

"Thank you." He smiled thankfully. "Just don't try too hard. Bones hates when people try too hard to be pleasing."

"Noted." She winked and gave him another kiss, this time longer. "Do you want something to eat? I can make us some dinner."

"I'm not really hungry." Booth frowned, as apologizing for not being the best company that night. "I'm tired after the long flight and the meeting with Bones just made me more exhausted. I just wanted to take a shower and go to bed, if you don't mind."

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"He's_ what?_" Angela almost choked with her orange juice during breakfast that morning. Hodgins was still sleeping and Brennan thought it would be a good time to tell her friend the big news Booth old her last night.

"Getting married." Brennan repeated and took a toast, trying to not show Angela how much that hit her.

"That _can't _be true!" Angela whined as a child whose mother just told her she won't get the toy she wanted so much for Christmas.

"Well, it is." Brennan covered Thomas, who was sleeping peacefully in the stroller next to them after having his own breakfast half an hour before.

"Brennan, you have to tell him about Tommy before he ties the knot with this woman, whoever the hell she is!" Angela said desperately.

"What would that change? He looks happy about his current situation with her, Angela. I could see in his eyes that he really cared about this Hannah person." Brennan told her. She noticed the sparkle in his eyes when he talked about his fiancée. The same sparkle that was usually reserved for _her_.

Angela raised one eyebrow to her friend. When did Brennan start seeing things in each other's eyes, she had no idea. But they were talking about Booth after all. She thought her friend could see even Booth himself when the man wasn't even around.

"So, that's her name?_ Hannah_?" Angela grimaced as if the name was infected. "I was really never a fan of palindromes." She informed her friend, as if Booth's fiancée having that name was a proof that woman wasn't a good thing. "I'm going to tell you I don't like her already."

"You can't possibly dislike her based only on her name, Angela. You didn't even meet her yet!" Brennan said. Although, she was trying to deal with the unflattering feeling she herself had toward that mysterious woman. It was completely irrational for her to feel that way for someone when she never even saw her face. But the fact itself that woman was marrying Booth was enough for her.

"Oh, come on, Brennan, don't tell me you are head over heels with this news." Angela rolled her eyes.

"I don't know what that means." Brennan poured some juicy in her glass trying to avoid that sentence.

"I _know_ you hate that Booth came back with a girlfriend." Angela said matter-of-factly.

"I won't lie saying I was delighted by the novelty, but I'm glad that Booth finally found someone who wants the same things that he does." Brennan tried her best to not make those words come out bitter from her mouth.

"He did not find it!" The artist made a face as if it was the most nonsensical thing she'd ever heard in her life. And honestly, she was quite sure it was. "That is not what he wants, not in his perfect world, anyway. He just got the first stupid girl he found and kept her to caress the bruised ego you left him with."

"Angela, you're really wrong this time." Brennan sighed sadly. "He said they are pretty close together… that once she was kidnapped and he saved her and that those events bring people together."

"He said _that_?" Angela asked in disbelief.

"Yes. Why would I invent that?" Brennan knitted her brows.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Angela snorted. "Can't you see it, Sweetie? He said that just to hit you!"

"Why would he do that?" Brennan asked honestly confused.

"Because we both know you guys had been in more situations like that than we can count in our hands." Angela smiled. "He obviously just wanted to make you jealous. Now I'm even starting to feel a little pity for this Hannah girl." Angela thought about it for a little. "Wait. I'm not. I just can't. She's still he woman who's banging my friend's guy."

Brennan cringed by the image of Booth sleeping with someone else.

"He's not my guy, Angela. I was the one who told him to move on and try to find someone." Brennan remembered her friend.

"Which was such a stupid thing to do, by the way."

"You've already told me that."

"I just wanted to intensify the stupidity of that decision you made." Angela took a bite of her toast. "You know, make sure that maybe _you_ realize it."

"I still think it was the best thing I could do at that moment." Brennan frowned. "No matter how things turned out, I still think we needed that time apart."

"I would be more opened to accept that if it wasn't for the fact that you kept his son hidden from him." Angela said even though she knew that would make her friend feel guilty.

"You know why I didn't tell him, Ange. Things didn't end well that night and I didn't want us to come back and try to work things out just because I was pregnant and before we had time to think." Brennan said sadly.

"It won't be easier now. I'm telling you. That guy will be _furious_ when he finds out." Angela looked at her serious.

"I know." Brennan swallowed and glanced at the baby sleeping peacefully, without a hint of an idea of how much his life was about to change in the next weeks. The fact that Booth would be pissed at her was one of the main reasons why she was so scared about telling him about Thomas.

"And when do you intend to tell him?" Angela asked. "Don't even try to say you'll wait till Tommy is old enough to tell his father himself, Sweetie, because if you wait that long I'm going to feel the need to tell him myself. He has the right to know. And this pretty boy has the right to know his father."

"I'll tell him." Brennan bitted her lips. "Next week we are back to work. I'm hiring a nanny for Tommy and maybe I'll need a week or so with Booth to decide when is the best time to tell him that night we spend together originated a baby. But I'll tell him soon, I promise."

"Be quick." Angela said and picked a muffin. "Each day that goes by and you don't tell Booth means one more day keeping Tommy away from his father."

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	6. Someone New

**Have I already told you how awesome you guys are? Because you totally are!**

**And it seems like it's unanimity that people wants Brennan to end up with Booth. LOL**

**Not that I would be able to end up things another way, though…**

**I know everyone is dying to see Booth finding out about Tommy, it won't be just yet, but I promise it will be soon.**

**Again, thank you SO MUCH for all the **_**amazing **_**feedback. If this story gets daily updates, it's because of that.**

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**FLASHBACK, 10 MONTHS AGO, MALUKU ISLANDS

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She was working on an expedition in the Island when the now familiar nausea hit her again. It was happening constantly, but especially during the morning work. Brennan wondered if she was anemic. It wasn't like she had been eating properly since she arrived at the Maluku's. With all the work and inner sadness she was feeling for what happened with Booth, eating was the last thing she thought about during the day.

"Are you okay, Dr. Brennan?" Daisy asked when she noticed her mentor's pale face.

"I'm fine, Ms. Wicks. It's probably just the heat that made me dizzy." Brennan said.

"I don't want to intrude in your life, but maybe you should see a doctor, Dr. Brennan. You've been feeling bad quite a lot lately." The younger woman said honestly concerned about Brennan's health.

"I think I'm anemic. I'll see the island's doctor lately and maybe get some vitamins." Brennan said. "Now we should go back to work, there's still a lot for us to do."

"Of course."

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It was later that night and she was getting ready to take a shower when she noticed the untouched tampon's box inside her bag. Since she stepped in that Island, all Brennan did was focus in the work, hoping it would keep her mind away from a certain man with the warmest brown eyes she'd ever seen and whose heart she broke for a second time before fleeing to Indonesia.

She didn't realize her period didn't come since she arrived there. It was never late and Brennan has been there for two months already.

Her heart skipped a beat when realization hit her.

_Booth. Goodbye. Nausea. Late period._

_No._ It couldn't be _that_.

Booth used a condom that night, she remembered that pretty well. He wanted to make sure this wouldn't happen, because the last thing that he wanted was Brennan pregnant with his child in the other side of the world. He didn't say that out loud, but she was pretty sure that was the main reason. Booth was the epitome of the alpha males. If she was pregnant with his child, he would do everything in his power to make sure she was safe, starting with getting her out of the Maluku Islands, even if she guaranteed him there was nothing to be worried about.

She wanted a baby. _His_ baby. It wasn't a secret, she even had asked for his sperms before and after being a little reluctant about that, he ended up accepting it. Later he backed off and she quit the idea of being a mother for a while. She couldn't see herself having anyone else's child.

This was all wrong.

_Wrong_ timing.

_Wrong _night.

_Wrong_ place.

Brennan decided it was irrational to worry about something she wasn't even sure was real. The chances of the condom breaking were what? 3%. Plus, she would have to be in her fertile days for that to happen, being that more or less five days in a month. Together, the chances of she getting pregnant that night were approximately 0,004%, which was _highly_ unlikely in her opinion.

Forgetting completely about the shower she was going to take, Brennan left her room and ran to the little tent they built for medical care while there would be people in the Island for the research. Glad that they had a home pregnancy test there, she took it without any more words to the girl taking care of the medicines and ran back to her room, feeling like she could almost throw up her heart with all the anxiety she was feeling inside her chest at that moment.

The two minutes the test required her to wait till it showed the result was torture, Brennan concluded. Surprising herself, she realized she had mixed feelings about what she wanted the result to be. Even though that was not at all how she wanted that to happen, she caught herself hoping for a positive result. Somehow, the idea of carrying Booth's baby inside her while they spend all this time apart made she feel closer to him and the pain in her chest more tolerable. Also, being knocked up the way she was if she really was pregnant with his child was way more pleasing than the painful procedure she would have to take to be artificially impregnated.

Tears fell from her eyes and a surprised smile was plastered in her face._ 0,004%._That man really had super sperm. She was pregnant. It was real. Inside her womb a little life, part her, part Booth, was growing. A new life made in a night of love.

Because that what it was, she had no doubts about it.

Her hand landed over her still flat belly and she let out a laugh between her sobs.

She had no idea what she would do next. She still had to think about all the changes that baby would bring to her life, how that would shake completely the agreement she made with Booth about being only partners when she come back, if that would change her mind about having a family with him.

But she still had a lot of time to think about all the complications that pregnancy brought. By her calculations, the baby wouldn't come for the next seven months. Till then she would have time to think about what she would tell Booth. She would take a flight to Australia the next day to have an appointment with a doctor. They had a couple of medical doctors in the island and she would only have to go there once every two months to make sure everything was okay with the baby.

For now, all she could do was enjoy the amazing feeling she had inside her chest. A mix of joy with the discovery of the miracle happening inside her body and an intense love she realized she'd already had for that unborn child.

.

.

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**SAME TIME, AFGHANISTAN.

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**

Booth was sitting alone in the table at the refectory in his unit at the base. He'd hung up the phone with Parker just an hour before and was still mourning the fact he hated being away from home so much.

His boy was excited about a science fair he would have in school and didn't stop talking how much he wished Dr. Bones was there, because he was certain she would help him with it and there was no way he would lose the contest, because Dr. Bones was the smartest person in the whole world. Hearing Parker talking about her made the pain in his chest grow worse. He pictured the three of them late at night at his apartment, a box of pizza lying over the counter in the kitchen and Bones and Parker sitting in the floor of the living room, surrounded by books, Styrofoam balls and paint while the woman explained very patiently about every planet and the solar system to his little boy.

Parker would look at her confused by her complicated words and she would realize she was talking to a nine-year-old boy and try her best to find easier words to explain things to him. The little boy would smile at her fascinated, just the way his father did.

He would watch them amazed; probably stand there at the doorframe just appreciating that moment with his two favorite people in the world getting along so well.

_Damnit, Bones. _He let his head fall on his hands, feeling his chest heavier than ever. _Why did you have to do that with us? We could be happy. I would make you happy._

He knew that was the whole truth, because his own happiness depended on hers and Parker's happiness.

Booth looked at the untouched and now cold food on his plate. It was almost a sin to throw it away. Now more than ever he knew how much he should appreciate the fact he had something to eat every day, but he couldn't help himself eating that thing.

"I know, I'm also not really a fan of the food in here." A voice startled him and he noticed the beautiful woman he'd seen a few times around the base standing in front of him. He'd wondered a couple of times what she was doing there. She definitely wasn't the kind of person he was expecting to see at a war zone. She was more the kind of woman who would be at an office. Or maybe a catwalk. "You'd expected the government would be a little nicer to the people who come here to help keeping the country safe, but I guess not." She wrinkled her nose.

"It could have been worse." Booth couldn't help smiling. "Believe me." He added reminding that time they had to eat mashed potatoes for a whole week because of a delayed delivery of food supply.

"Worse than this?" She made a face.

"Yes." He chuckled.

"I guess that's their way to obligate the soldiers to stay in shape." She shrugged.

"Maybe it is." Booth nodded, suddenly feeling glad she stopped there to talk to him. "I'm Sergeant Major Seeley Booth."

"Hannah Burley." Hannah reached out her hand to shake his. "I'm staying here as an embedded journalist in the unit."

"Oh, that's make sense. I was wondering what a woman like you would be doing in a place like this." He said.

"A woman like me?" She raised one eyebrow questioningly.

"I mean, you just don't fit the atmosphere here." He explained.

"I find the opportunity of seeing and living everything that happens here daily fascinating." Hannah opened a smiled and sat on the chair in front of Booth.

"I wish I shared the same feelings." He sighed and opened a sad smile.

"Missing home?" She asked sympathetically.

"You have no idea." He looked down at the picture of his little boy he was holding in his hand. He took it in a day he and Bones took Parker to the circus and the boy had a huge grin in his face while holding a family size bowl of popcorn in his hands.

"Your son?" Hannah pointed at the picture.

"Yes." Booth smiled and turned the picture so the woman could see it. "His name is Parker. He's nine. I just hung up the phone with him and he was talking about a new project he would make for school. He was super excited about it."

Booth was surprised by how easy it was to talk to Hannah.

"Oh, that's a beautiful boy." She commented honestly. "It must be terrible to be away from him. I have a four year old niece who is the funniest kid you've ever met. I don't get to see her as much as I want to and I still miss her horribly since I came here. I don't even want to think how hard it must be when you have your own child. Did he take the news of you coming here very badly?"

"No… actually he was one of the people who encourage me the most to come here." Booth snorted a laugh at the irony of that. The two people he loved the most were the ones who encouraged him the most to go to the Afghanistan. "He told me he didn't want it to be his fault people here would die if I didn't come because of him."

"He sounds like a great kid." She smiled.

"He is." Booth nodded. "Sometimes I just want to quit everything here and take the next flight to DC…"

"Oh, you're from DC?" Hannah asked surprised and he confirmed. "Oh my God, what a coincidence! Me too…"

.

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**END OF FLASHBACK

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"Can I pick you up at work to have lunch with me and Parker?" Booth asked Hannah before leaving to go to work. It would be his first day back to the FBI and the first time he'd see Brennan since their encounter at the mall.

"Sure. I can't wait to meet him." Hannah smiled. She thought it would be nice to give father and son some time alone before going out with him.

"He is really excited about meeting you too." He told her, skipping the part where his son asked why he wasn't dating Dr. Bones. "Maybe you can also meet Bones today."

"You think it's a good idea?" She asked unsure.

"Of course! The people who work at that lab are some of my best friends. I want them to meet the woman I'm getting married with." Booth brushed her cheek tenderly.

"I hope they'll like me." Hannah said, a bit anxious about how people would react at her presence.

"Of course they will!" He leaned down and kissed her on the lips. "How could someone not like you, hmm?"

.

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**Next chapter features a lot of Parker, Brennan, Angela, Hannah and Booth. ;)**

**I want to ask you something: what do you think about the flashbacks? Do you like them? Do you hate them?**

**Because I think they are important to the story, it's a way to understand some of the characters actions and I personally like knowing how some of the things happened. But I want to know about what **_**you**_** think, because if you hate them I'll just keep them the minimum possible.**

**Ok… that's it. :)**

**Don't forget to review, please!**


	7. Parker Love

**Seems like people are more positive than negative about the flashbacks. :)**

**But you don't need to worry, there won't be many more of them, I know everyone wants the story moving forward…**

**I also know everyone wants Parker to hate Hannah, well… it's not exactly like that, but I hope you like the way it is…**

**It was **_**fun**_** to write it. ;)**

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"Hi, I'm Parker." The blonde little boy greeted Hannah with an excited grin on his face. Booth picked him up at school and went directly to Hannah's work to get her. "Are you my dad's girlfriend?"

"Yes, I'm Hannah. It's very nice to meet you, Parker." She said, enchanted by the boy's enthusiasm. She was a bit scared about what his reaction would be like. After all, she was the woman marrying his father and she knew every kid wanted their parents to be together. Booth assured her it wouldn't happen with Parker, since when he was born he and Rebecca were already separated, the boy was used to the idea of their parents not sharing the same roof. But still, she was afraid.

"You're pretty." He smiled and Hannah noticed he definitely inherited his father's charm. "But not as pretty as Bones, though. You don't have her blue eyes. She has the most amazing eyes, right, Dad?"

Booth's face changed from completely white to bright pink in a matter of five seconds. He couldn't believe Parker just said that.

"I think Hannah's eyes are very beautiful, bub." He said, hoping his kid would stop bringing Brennan to the conversation. He would meet her later that day, he didn't have the opportunity to leave the FBI during the morning and sent Brennan a message telling her he would meet her for lunch.

"They are, but they are green and not blue like Bones'." Parker explained.

Hannah noticed Booth lied when he said Dr. Brennan only allowed him to call her Bones. Apparently, the little Booth boy called her that as well.

"You like Dr. Brennan a lot?" Hannah forced a smile.

"I like her a whole lot." He spread his arms as to demonstrate how much he liked Brennan. "She's so cool and beautiful and she helps me _all the time_ with my science homework. She's the smartest person we know, isn't she, Dad?" Parker asked his father.

Booth inhaled and exhaled slowly. It wasn't in his plans to have Bones as the main subject of their conversation on Parker's first meeting with Hannah.

"Yes, Bones is very smart." Booth agreed uncomfortably. "Why don't you tell Hannah about your science project?"

"I made a skeleton with clay. Mom helped me and I got second place in the science fair at school. I can't wait to tell Bones. I think she'll be proud of me." The boy said excitedly and Booth wondered what was with his son today that he just couldn't stop talking about his partner.

He didn't know why his son was acting like that. Maybe it was because he was so used to have Brennan around them every time and somehow felt Hannah was an intruder in their life? Since Rebecca and Booth never got married, Brennan was the closest thing Parker had to a step-mother. Booth couldn't deny she acted pretty much like his step-mother, helping him with the homework, going out with them on the weekends, having meals at the diner, taking Parker to amusement parks… It never passed though his mind that the boy would keep comparing Brennan to Hannah.

Hell, _he_ had to do one damn good job to not compare them all the time. Not that he would ever admit it to anyone.

"Will we go to the lab to meet her for lunch, Dad? You promised we would." Parker pouted.

"Yes, Parker. We'll go there."

.

.

"BONES!" Brennan was startled by the excited scream. She was examining some bones from the limbo while Booth didn't show up there with a case.

She turned around and opened a delighted smiled when she saw the little blonde boy running with opened arms towards her.

"_Parker_!" She chuckled and bent down a little to hug him back when he threw his arms around her. "Oh my God! Your father wasn't lying when he told me you grew quite a lot in this past year."

"I'm ten, now." Parker said proudly and straightened up his body, as if that would make him look even taller. "I missed you, Bones. I'm glad you're back." He said with that adorable smile of his and his eyes sparkling. Brennan couldn't help imagining if Tommy would grow up to be as cute as his older brother.

"I missed you too, Parker." She said touched by the kid's words.

"I wanted to send you a letter, but Dad told me you were in the middle of a jungle in the Mapoopoo Islands and probably you wouldn't get it." He told her. "Was it cool there? Did you see any monkeys, and snakes and _huuuuge_ lions?"

"I was at the Maluku Islands." Brennan told him and smiled at the boy's excitement. "And yes, I've seen some monkeys and even held a snake, but there aren't any lions there at the island. Most of them live at savannas in Africa."

"Or at the zoo." He added.

"Or at the zoo." Brennan chuckled and nodded. She missed him so much.

"So you held a snake? That's _cool._" Parker looked at her with admiration in his eyes. "Did my Dad tell you about my science project?"

"No, we didn't have a lot of time to talk when we met briefly at the mall last week. What was it about?" Brennan asked genuinely interested. One of the things that made Parker like her so much was the fact that unlikely most of the adults, she didn't talk to him differently because he was a kid.

"I made a skeleton with clay. I got second place in the fair, Mom helped me doing it. I'm sure I would have gotten first if you were here to help me, though." He smiled.

"Second place is pretty awesome." Brennan told him. "Congratulations!"

"Parker! Oh my God, is that really you? You grew like, three feet in this past year!" Angela commented when she saw the little boy talking with Brennan.

"Hi, Angela!" He hugged the artist. "Mom said that if I keep growing this fast she'll only buy me two shirts every three months, because I'm losing them all."

"You came here alone?" Angela asked and looked around trying to find Booth. She doubted Parker had driven himself to the Jeffersonian.

Brennan's shocked face answered her question. Following her friends gaze, she saw Booth passing throw the automatic glass door with a blonde woman following him from behind.

"Parker! I've already told you tons of times to_ not_ run around here in the Jeffersonian!" Booth reprehended the boy and approached the platform. "I don't want you running into a squint and make him overthrow whatever it is he's carrying. You never know what that might be."

He felt his heart flipping when he saw Brennan standing there next to his boy wearing her lab coat and with her hair tied up in a ponytail, the way he saw her many times before. It was almost like he was having a _déjà vu_ and that entire year they spent apart had never happened.

"I just really, really wanted to see Bones, Dad." Parker pouted and bumped Brennan with his shoulder before taking her hand. Brennan always went in his defense when his father was angry with him.

"Hey, there, Stud!" Angela decided to step in and get a better view of the blonde standing next to Booth and looking slightly scared. "You're looking very good." She touched his upper arm and squeezed it.

"Hi, Angela." Booth chuckled. "This is Hannah Burley, my fiancée."

"Fiancée, hmm?" She smiled and eyed the woman up and down._ She was beautiful, _she couldn't deny it_. Good. Another good reason to hate her, _she decided_. _Brennan was standing behind her, holding Parker's hand while trying to decide what to say. "I'm Angela Montenegro." She reached out her hand to the woman and opened a fake smile. "I hope you didn't mind my little reception here for Booth. I'm just like that. But you don't need to worry, I'm married." She showed her left hand to Hannah and waved her fingers showing her wedding band.

"There's no problem." Hannah smiled. "Seeley told me about all his squint friends from the lab."

"Aw, that's sweet." Angela sighed and brought a hand to the heart.

"Hey, Hannah! Come up here and meet Bones." Parker jumped up and down trying to catch his father's fiancée attention. Brennan held a breath when all the eyes in the room turned to look at her. "Doesn't she have the most beautiful eyes?"

Booth wanted to disappear from the face of Earth and Brennan felt all the blood in her body running up to her cheeks.

"Yes, Parker, you were right." Hannah agreed with a yellow smile. What else could she say? And the woman had indeed stunning blue eyes. "I'm Hannah Burley. You must be Dr. Brennan."

"Y- Yes." Brennan managed to say and reached her hand to shake Hannah's.

"It's really nice to meet you. Seeley talked a lot about you." She said, trying to be friendly. That woman looked intimidating without even trying. She decided she didn't want her antipathy.

"It's nice to meet you too." Brennan said. _Liar._

"Will you be able to have lunch with us, Bones?" Booth asked.

"I- I'm not sure." Brennan tried to think of an excuse to get away from that. Having lunch with Booth and the blonde journalist wasn't on the top of her list of the things she wanted to do before she died. "I still have to finish identifying these remains."

"Oh, come on, Bren, that guy is dead for _centuries_. He can wait." Angela said. "I bet you guys have _a lot_ to talk about." She added suggestively and Brennan felt an urge to jump on her friend's throat for that innuendo.

"I really don't know-" She tried.

"Why don't I take Booth, Parker and Hannah for a walk around the Jeffersonian while you finish with that dude? There's this new exhibition and I've heard it's amazing." Angela said. "Then you guys can meet here later and go have your lunch."

"Yes! You'll love the museum, Hannah! It's the _coolest _place! Sometimes Bones take me to the dinosaurs' wing after the visiting hours are over. It's _awesome_!" Parker said excitedly. "She even let me touch some of the bones, as long as I don't tell anyone about it, _because we are not supposed to touch them_." He murmured the last part and Hannah started to get annoyed by the boy's adoration for Dr. Brennan. Maybe she was wrong at first when she thought she should worry about him not liking her because he wanted his father to be with his mother. The way things looked, it was _Dr. Brennan_ the one who got the boy's affection.

"Is that okay for you?" Booth asked Brennan, both still uncomfortable around each other.

He_ hated _that.

"Yeah, sure. I think that is acceptable." Brennan nodded her head agreeing. It was not like she could get away now that Angela put her in that trap.

She would have a little talk with her about that later.

.

.

When Angela, the Booth boys and the journalist came back to the platform, Brennan wasn't there anymore. Looking at her office, they realized she wasn't back there either as all the lights in the room were turned off.

_She ran away_, Angela narrowed her eyes.

Wendell was standing where they left Brennan just half an hour before and finishing the forensic anthropologist's work.

"Wendell, where is Brennan?" Angela asked the intern.

"Dr. Brennan received a call about fifteen minutes ago and she seemed pretty worried when she hung up." He told the artist, his eyebrows knitted in a confused expression. He was completely surprised by his mentor's reaction when she hung up her cell phone. Without any word, she went back to her office, took her coat and purse and just told him to tell Angela where she was going. "She asked me to tell you she'd go to see Thomas." Who that person was, he had no idea. He wouldn't be the one to ask Dr. Brennan about it. It was none of his business. "I never saw Dr. Brennan leaving work like that, she didn't even bother to put the bones back to the boxes."

Angela swallowed at the mention of her godson. Booth's fast instincts quickly caught the unfamiliar name.

He knew better than anyone only something really big would make Brennan leave all her work behind without think twice about it. Whoever that guy was, he must have been someone really important.

"_Thomas_?" He narrowed his eyebrows and looked at Angela. "Who's Thomas?"


	8. Green Eyed Monster

**Oh God… I can't even tell you how surprised and glad I am with all the reviews and alerts this story (and my other) is getting! My e-mail was full the whole day yesterday! Thank you soooooooo much!**

**I'm going to travel tomorrow really early in the morning and I'll only come back on Sunday, but when I saw so many people interested in this and telling me how much they appreciate the regular updates, I just felt terrible for leaving you without updates for three days, so… I wrote a couple of them yesterday so I'll be able to update while I'm away (see how much I love you? :) ).

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"_Thomas?" He narrowed his eyebrows and looked at Angela. "Who's Thomas?" _

Angela suddenly forgot how to breathe. She turned around and looked at the handsome FBI agent staring at her waiting eagerly for an answer. She wanted to tell him the truth. She wanted to tell him Brennan had their son and that he was the cutest baby in the world. She wanted to tell him to dump that girlfriend of his and go get the woman he really loved. God knew how much she wanted to put an end in that story, it was going on for seven years already, for heaven's sake! Someday someone should write a book about those two, it would be a success without a hint of a doubt.

Still, Angela couldn't tell him any of that yet because she promised Brennan she would give her a little more time so she could tell Booth herself. And Angela was not the kind of person who broke promises she has made to her friends.

But she wasn't a liar either.

So, she said the only thing she could say: "Thomas is the man of her life."

It wasn't a lie. _Not at all_. That little boy became her friend's life the moment she found out about him. She quit what would have been the biggest highlight in her career without thinking twice about it so she could have the baby safely in Paris. She was leaving the lab in the middle of the day without being bothered about leaving work unfinished. Angela _knew_ Brennan loved that baby more than anything in the world.

Booth froze for a while after hearing the artist's words. So Brennan_ did_ find someone else either. That new piece of information made his body burn and he clenched his fist without realizing what he was doing. Angela said that guy was 'the man of her life', so there should be something serious going on between them. He felt bad for the jealousy that took over his body. He shouldn't still feel that possessive feeling over Brennan, what happened between them was in the past. And it wasn't even like they dated or anything. They had one night of love and that was it. That didn't made her his.

_The hell it didn't_.

The picture of another man touching her body made him sick of the stomach. _Damn, you, Temperance Brennan_. _Damn, you._ How could she still do that with him? He had a beautiful, funny, nice, smart fiancée, and still, all that was in his mind at that moment was the irritating brunette with the most beautiful blue eyes that had possession of his heart for the past seven years.

Because no matter how much he enjoyed Hannah's company, no matter how much he cared about her, he knew he would _never _love anyone the way he loved his Bones.

But he was okay with that. All that crazy love brought him was pain. And Booth was tired of the pain. He was actually happy in those last months in Afghanistan. Life with Hannah was very easy.

"Seeley, are you okay?" Hannah touched his shoulder and asked worried. "You look pale."

"I- I'm fine." He answered, her words snapping him back to reality. "I'm just _really_ hungry. I think I didn't eat anything since breakfast this morning."

_Yeah, good try, Stud, _Angela smirked. At least that would do something. If Booth realized how jealous he was about this 'Thomas' guy and Brennan, maybe he would kick the blonde's butt before doing the most stupid thing in the world and end up marrying her. And then he would try to find out things about this 'Thomas' and realize he's none other than his own son.

_Oh, that would be amazing._

Except it was more likely to happen in the soap opera her grandmother liked to watch during lunch time than in real life, but still.

"Dr. Bones went away and didn't even say goodbye." Parker frowned. He didn't even have time to tell her about the dog his mother finally let him have.

"I'm sure it must have been an emergency, bub." Booth told him. "Bones wouldn't leave her precious bones like that otherwise." He smiled.

That suddenly reminded Angela of something that she didn't think about before. _What if something serious happened to Tommy? _

"Booth, I'm sorry, but I have a lot of work to do. I would love to stay here and hear all about your adventures in Bin Laden's land, but Cam will eat me alive if I don't finish what she asked me to do on time." Angela lied. She needed to call Brennan and find out what happened.

"Angela, wait!" Booth called her when she was about to leave.

"Yes?"

"Do you know this 'Thomas' surname?" He asked a bit shyly. He didn't want to show how much that bothered him, but he couldn't help asking.

Angela had to hide a smile. _Of course._ He wanted to run a background on the guy, like he did with every other guy that Brennan dated.

"I don't think it's my place to tell you that." Angela gave him an apologetically smile. "Don't worry, Booth, Thomas will not do any harm to Brennan."

"You know Bones' taste for men is not the best, Angela. I just want to make sure this guy isn't a serial killer or something." Booth said. Hannah looked at him with her forehead creased. _Was he jealous about his partner and whoever this Thomas was?_

"Believe me, this guy is the most adorable male I've ever seen in my life. He beats even my Hodgie. He can melt everyone's heart with his smile. He's just _that_ irresistible." She grinned and noticed that Booth's eyes got darker. _Oh, that's really not a nice thing to do, Mr. Stud, show jealousy for another woman in front of your current fiancée_. Angela was secretly loving that. "It was really nice to meet you Hannah." Angela said to the journalist. "And Parker, you should come visit us again. I bought some amazing paints to do facial drawings back in Paris."

"Awesome!" Parker said excitedly. "Can you make me a Spider Man mask?"

"You can stop right there, Angela." Booth said before she could open her mouth to answer. "Last time it took me four days to wash that thing out of his face and a week of Rebecca yelling at my ears about that."

Angela gave him a last smirk and winked at Parker before heading to her office.

.

.

"Molly, what happened?" Brennan asked the nanny concerned as she ran inside her apartment. She could hear Tommy's screams from the hall.

"I don't know, Dr. Brennan." The young woman said worried, rocking the baby in her arms. "He just doesn't stop crying and I don't know what's wrong with him. His diaper is clean, he'd been fed and he slept good part of the morning."

"Does he have a fever?" Brennan asked, touching her baby's forehead. Hearing him cry broke her heart.

"No. I've also checked it." Molly said.

"Let me hold him." Brennan reached out her arms and took the crying baby from the nanny's. _Oh God,_ she'd missed him so much. It was the longest she stayed away from him since he was born. "Oh, Tommy, what's upsetting you, baby?" She asked sweetly and stroked the little boy's head. "_Shhh_, it's okay… Mommy is here. Hey, baby, I'm here."

The sobs started ceasing when the baby realized his mother was back. When his eyes focused on her face, the pouting gave place to a delighted smile.

"How did you do that?" Molly asked surprised, not believing in what just happened. She'd been trying to soothe that baby for the past hour.

"I think he just missed his mommy." Brennan smiled, still looking at her son. "I missed you too, honey, but mommy has to work. I know it's hard but I can't quit my job." She told him, who grabbed a streak of her hair.

"You can take the day off if you want, Molly." She told the nanny. "I won't come back to work today."

"Thank you, Dr. Brennan." Molly nodded and left to grab her things.

"And you don't get used to this." She told her little boy tickling his chin with her finger, not being able to hide a smile from her face. How could she when he was staring at her like that? Like she was the only thing in his world? Like only her presence was enough to make him happy? "Don't think I'll ran back home just because you're throwing a fit. You'll get away with it today, but just because I had to do a pretty good job trying not to cry at work too. I'll ask Cam if I can have you there with me at least half the day, but first I have to_ tell_ her about _you_."

Her monologue was interrupted by the phone's ring.

"Hello?" She answered, holding the speaker between her head and shoulder.

"Sweetie?" Angela asked, her voice sounding worried. "Is everything okay?"

Brennan sat down and held the phone in one hand while holding Tommy with the other.

"Yes, everything is fine, Ange, why are you asking?" Brennan asked distracted while waving her fingers in front of Tommy's face and getting a delicious laughter as a response.

"Why? Temperance Brennan just doesn't leave her job like that in the middle of the day unless the apocalypse is coming!" Angela said.

"Oh, seems like Mr. Thomas here was having a fit." Brennan explained, grinning at her beautiful boy. "Molly was pretty worried but it turned out that this little guy just wanted his mommy."

"Oh, thank God, I was really worried." Angela sighed relieved. "By the way, Booth knows about Tommy."

"_WHAT?_" Brennan almost dropped the phone.

"Well, not really _know_ about him. He has no idea he's his son or that 'Thomas' is a three-month-old chubby and cute little baby."She explained. "He was with me when Wendell told me you left to meet Tommy and you know Booth… he asked right away who was this 'Thomas'."

"And what did you say?" Brennan asked, her heart jumping inside her chest.

"What could I say, Sweetie? I promised you I would give you time to tell him." Angela said. "I just told him Thomas was the man of your life."

Brennan could imagine her friend's smirk on the other side of the line.

"Angela…"

"Oh, Sweetie… you _had _to see his face…" She told her excited. "Even the blonde bitch noticed how jealous he got."

"Angela! You shouldn't call her that… she seemed like a nice person…" Brennan said.

"Oh, come on, Brennan… that woman was so annoying. And she called him 'Seeley'!" Angela said as if it was the worst thing in the world.

"Well, that's his name." Brennan said.

"You know better than anyone that Booth hates his name and Cam only calls him that when she wants to tease him. I'm telling you, I don't see those two getting married." Angela said. She was pretty sure about that, especially after she saw that Booth couldn't hide his jealousy even if Hannah was standing right next to him. "Thank God Parker didn't stop talking about you during the whole tour. I could see that bothered her beyond words." Angela grinned. "Remind me to thank him later for that, please. By the way, he was super sad you left without saying goodbye."

"I was so worried about Tommy that I couldn't think of anything else." Brennan felt guilty. She hated to let Parker down. "I'll call him later and apologize. Perhaps I can take him to have a milkshake at the diner later, he loves those things."

"Yeah, do that. It would be a nice opportunity to introduce him to his _brother_…"

"Angela…"

"I know… I know… but you better tell Booth soon, now he already knows there's an important guy in your life called Thomas. It won't take him long to link everything." Angela said. "He'll be pissed anyway, but it will be much worse if he finds out by himself."

"I know." Brennan sighed and looked at her son, sucking two of his fingers and staring at her with his big blue eyes wide opened. He deserved to meet his father and his brother. Booth would hate her, but at least her son would have his love. "I'll tell him as soon as I can."

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**You know what to do now, right? ;)**


	9. Unexpected

**Hey! **

**Sorry in advance for the mistakes you may find here... I mean, the ones more than the usual... ;)**

**I'm not a big fan of lap top so I'll just proofread it again when I come back home...**

**ENJOY!

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**FLASHBACK, 7 MONTHS AGO, MALUKU ISLANDS

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It was late at night and Brennan was lying in her bed wondering how he would look like. Would he look like Booth? Would he look like her? She hoped he looked like his father. She wouldn't mind having a little Booth running around her. More than the looks, she hoped her baby would inherit his father's heart.

She had just found out that afternoon that she was having a baby boy and she couldn't have been happier with the news. Not that she would mind if she was having a girl, but the idea of having a little guy warmed up her heart.

The working that was being done out at the site in the island was now over and the rest of the research would be finished inside the labs that were built there at the Maluku's. Brennan was glad about it, now that she entered the fifth month into her pregnancy, it was getting pretty hard to work under the heat of the sun. Her bump was starting to get heavy and she was getting tired much easier.

Opening a smile, she placed her hand on her now very rounded belly. Everyone in the island was already aware of Dr. Brennan's pregnancy and she couldn't be more thankful for the amazing support she was getting from her co-workers. From food to little gifts for the baby, everyone was making sure all the time that the beautiful pregnant anthropologist was eating properly and not working overly hours. Booth would be happy to know she was being taken care of. She decided to not tell him about the baby until the time they schedule to meet back there in DC. He would be surprised and most probably angry at her for not telling him before about their son, but things would work out in the end. They were Booth and Brennan, they would find a solution to their awkward situation.

"We are going to Paris in three months." She told her belly. At first she felt weird talking to her bump, but the doctor said the baby could hear her voice from the womb and that the sound of her voice was relaxing for him. Also, once he was born, he would recognize it, so, she talked to him regularly. "I still didn't tell your Aunt Angela about you, she'll make it such a huge deal when she finds out I slept with your father_ and _got impregnated in that one night. I bet she'll tell me I was right about him being a great breeder. Then, after squealing and probably providing me a momentaneous hearing loss, she'll give me a long speech because I didn't tell Booth about you." Brennan frowned. "But she doesn't understand. She wasn't there. She didn't saw his face when I left. If it weren't for you, I believe I would regret that night, even if it was amazing for most of the time. I really enjoyed being in your father's embrace. His strong arms are very comforting."

She rubbed the bump, smiling imagining her baby's face. _Would he have her cerulean blue eyes or Booth's warm brown ones?_

"I can't wait to meet you." She told him. "The doctor told me you're going to be a big baby, which is not really a surprise since your father has those broad shoulders of his and is taller than average man and I'm quite tall myself. You're going to love Booth, I'm sure about that. Everybody loves him. He has excellent social skills and he's very kind. He's also an amazing father for Parker, I'm sure he'll be great for you as well." She smiled. Talking to her belly was somehow soothing. "You also have a big brother, Parker is an incredible boy and already show some alpha male tendencies, exactly like your father. He's very protective of the people he loves, even if he's only nine years old. Booth told me he once got in trouble in school because he defended a girl who was getting bullied by a group of mini-plastics, although, I don't really know what that means." She creased her forehead thoughtfully. "Booth and Parker love sports, they are quite addicted to basketball, soccer, football and baseball, will you like those things too? They are very popular among the males."

Brennan was surprised when she got a kick as an answer. It was the first time she felt the baby kicking and she didn't react for a moment. She just couldn't. It was so amazing and awkward - _good _awkward - feeling her baby moving inside her for the first time.

"I guess that's a yes." She smiled and wiped the tears from her eyes, something that now she was already getting used to do. The incredible increase of hormone production was the only thing Brennan was not enjoying that much about her pregnancy. It was kind of embarrassing to start crying in the middle of a meeting because the story that the scientists found out about the remains were sad. "I can tell you already you'll have a pretty good kick, baby boy."

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**END OF FLASHBACK

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"What are you going to do tonight?" Brennan asked Booth as they drove to the crime scene. That would be their first case since they came back from their sabbatical year.

Booth was caught by surprise by her question. It would have been something completely normal for Brennan to ask him one year before, but lately they were doing nothing but avoiding contact as much as possible. They didn't talk after she left the Jeffersonian two days ago to see that infamous Thomas he couldn't get any information about. He was so annoyed for being switched for him in a snap that he didn't lost his time calling her to ask her reasons for not going to the diner with him, Hannah and Parker. Hell, he had to almost drag her out of the lab, how could that guy get her out of there only with a phone call?

Later that day, Parker told him Brennan had called him to tell she had an emergency but she would love to take him to have a milkshake another day during that week. So, she had time to call his son but couldn't even send him a _message_ with an apology. _Very nice of you, Bones._

"Hannah would like to go out to celebrate, today we complete seven months together." Booth told his partner.

If he wasn't keeping his eyes on the road, he would have caught Brennan grouchy face when she heard his words. It wasn't like she _needed_ that information. Couldn't he just tell her he was busy? Or maybe just that he was going out with his annoyingly beautiful fiancée, who, in her honest opinion probably spent way too much time at the gym to get those shaped legs, which probably led to the conclusion the blonde had a brain of the size of a peanut? _Who cared if her thoughts sounded prejudiced?_ It wasn't like anyone could read them. There was no such thing as mind reading.

"But I have a lot of paperwork to catch up at the FBI, so I believe I'll spend a very good night with my Goofy mug and drowning in piles and piles of paper." Booth added, not sounding happy about that.

Of course, she had no doubts he would prefer to release his biological urges with his fiancée other than spend the night working.

But Brennan felt a little better when she heard that he would spend the night working. It would be a good opportunity to tell him about Tommy. Hannah would be at home thinking her fiancé was only working, not even imagining the bomb about to explode, and the Hoover's building would be probably empty apart from some cops on call that night. She could ask Angela to take Tommy to the lab to meet her and then she could go with him to the FBI. She was quite certain that if the baby was there, Booth would at least try to control his temper when he found out the truth. Or, at least, that was she hoped.

"Why are you asking?" He turned to look at her.

"Nothing…" She tried to not sound nervous. "It's just that there were some things I wanted to talk to you and I wanted to do that in private."

"What's wrong?" He asked immediately worried.

"There isn't any problem. I just wanted to tell you about some things that happened while I was in Indonesia…" Brennan said hoping he didn't noticed how anxious she was.

"Can't you tell me now?" He said suddenly very curious. Would she tell him about her boyfriend?

"I don't think now it's a good time, we're almost getting to the crime scene." She pointed at a plate saying the city they were supposed to get was only five miles away. "Can I meet you at the Hoover's later?"

"Sure…" He narrowed his eyes, trying to figure out what she could possible want to tell him in private. "You're sure everything is okay, Bones?"

"Yes, Booth." She nodded. "Everything is fine."

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"Did you bring him?" Brennan asked as soon as she entered her office at end of afternoon. Booth had just dropped her off at the Jeffersonian after they spend a good two hours working at the crime scene. The body was in horrible conditions and Brennan wanted to make sure the remains wouldn't be damaged when wrapped to be shipped to the lab. Thankfully, there was a hotel near the place where she was able to take a shower before coming back to DC. She didn't want to come back to see her baby with goop in her outfit.

"Yes, Sweetie, now he's sleeping like an angel." Angela told her friend and pointed at the baby sleeping at the baby carrier in the office's couch. Tommy was dressed up in his fanciest outfit, a bottomed shirt, denim pants and the cutest pair of shoes you could find for an infant.

"Oh, look at you, Tommy, you're looking like a little gentleman." Brennan whispered to her son, speaking very lowly not wake him. "Thank you, Ange."

"You're welcome. He had to look his best to meet his father." Angela smiled. She couldn't believe her friend would _finally_ tell Booth about Tommy. "And you didn't see this little special detail…" She smiled wider and slowly pushed up the sheath of the baby's pants, giving Brennan a good view of a very colorful striped sock.

"Angela!" Brennan couldn't resist laughing.

"Like father, like son." The artist winked at her friend. "Hodgins is waiting for me, Sweetie, but promise you're going to call to tell me exactly how everything went, okay? No matter what happens… call me. And if he acts like a major jerk, I promise you I'll find him wherever he is and I'll kick his ass, even if he has the right to be angry about the situation."

Brennan opened a sad smile. "I hope he won't be very pissed."

"He might be very mad at first, Brennan, but he'll forgive you." Angela told her friend. "There's no way he wouldn't, that man is crazy in love with you."

"Angela… he's getting married…" Brennan reminded her.

"Oh, please, don't make me start on that…" Angela waved her hand as saying for Brennan to shut up. "I gotta go." She kissed her friend's cheek. "Good luck."

Giving her godson a goodbye kiss on the forehead, she left her friend alone with Tommy.

"So… today is the day, honey." She told her little boy. "Today you're finally going to meet your father."

Angela hadn't been gone for even five minutes when she heard her door being slapped open again, startling Brennan, who was completely lost in her thoughts while watching her baby sleep.

"_Bones_! You forgot your cell phone in the car!" Booth entered her office carrying Brennan's mobile in his hand. He was almost in the middle of the way back to the FBI when he realized she left her cell phone in his car. He knew she would freak out when she realized she forgot it so he decided to come back to the Jeffersonian to give it back to her. What he wasn't expecting was to find his partner rocking a baby carrier, where a cute little boy was sleeping peacefully. "Bones… who is this kid?"

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**HEY!**

**Stop looking at me like that!**

**You should know by now I'm an evil little thing! =P**

**Want to read the next chapter? *waggles eyebrows***

**Hit the review button and let me know!**


	10. Truth Time

**Wow... you REALLY want to read this chapter... I never got so many reviews!**

**You guys are sooooooooo awesome and I loved each one of them, even if 99.8% had the words "evil" or "mean" or both of them, of course, directed to me. LOL**

**I'm not _that_ mean... come on... remember I'm traveling and I'm still updating... a mean person would post that chapter and forget about the story for three months... ;)**

**I'm sorry I couldn't reply to your reviews this time, as you know I'm not at home and I don't have much time... and when I have my brother annoys the hell out of me asking me to leave the computer... ¬¬**

**But I promise I'll reply all the reviews this time!**

**Oh, some people asked me how Tommy looked like, I described him some chapters ago.. but here we go: he's chubby, almost bald apart for some auburn/light brown hair (just because I think bald babies are the cutest) and has blue eyes.**

**By the way, I SWEAR I had no idea of the meaning of the name Thomas, I just found out when I was looking for things for this chapter. It's just a name I love for a boy. It was just a coincidence that it means what it means...**

**I know everyone has been waiting for this moment since the beginning of the story... I really hope it won't disappoint you!**

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"Bones... who is this kid?" Booth asked her, confusion all over his face.

Brennan froze for a moment, completely shocked by the unexpected visitor. He wasn't supposed to show up there like that. He wasn't supposed to find out about Tommy that way. She had made an entire speech in her mind about what she would tell him and now she couldn't even process a complete sentence in her brain.

"He- he's my son." She gasped, finally understanding what people meant when they said they felt like they had their hearts in their mouths.

"Your_ son_?" Booth narrowed his eyes, finding hard to believe in that information. "Why didn't you tell me you adopted while you were in Indonesia? I know it's been quite common for wealthy people to adopt children from Asia, but I gotta tell you, Bones, I was not expecting _you _would come back from there with a child in your arms." He let out a laugh and bent down on his knees next to the baby's carrier, hoping to get a better view of the kid.

"Booth…" She tried to say, but words were stuck in her throat.

"He's very cute, Bones, I'm not surprised you couldn't resist adopting him." Booth smiled and brushed the baby's cheek tenderly. The little boy didn't move, he was completely lost in his deep sleep. "What's his name?"

"Tommy." Brennan said, her heart jumping inside her chest. "_Thomas_."

"Oh, so _you_ are the famous Thomas." He told the little boy in a baby voice, a big grin showing up on his face. And he was jealous thinking Thomas was a man who was stealing his Bones from him… Booth chuckled with his stupid thought. _Believe me, this guy is the most adorable male I've ever seen in my life, _Angela told him that day. She wasn't wrong. This little guy was quite adorable. Something hit him when he noticed the baby's name. "Thomas, _the one who only believes in what he can see and in what he can touch." _He chuckled. "Why am I not surprised?" He asked the baby sweetly.

Brennan was watching her partner interacting with her son in such a lovely way that she felt her heart aching. _He thought Thomas was adopted._ He had no idea that little boy he was treating so tenderly was his own son.

Tommy opened his eyes slowly and stared at the unfamiliar face with his cerulean blue eyes. The man suddenly froze when the baby looked at him and opened a happy smile, the same one Angela told him could melt everyone's heart.

Booth didn't know much about geography and world's population, but he was pretty sure blue eyed-babies weren't very common in Indonesia. Especially_ that_ shade of blue. He only knew _one_ other pair of eyes who shared the same amazing color. One pair that was staring at him at that exactly moment and covered by tears.

"Booth…" She tried again, the tears falling loosely from her eyes.

He looked at her and back at the baby, his jaw dropped while a million situations were running through his mind. That boy couldn't be younger than three-months old. If he was Brennan's biological son, she would have gotten pregnant right before she flied to Indonesia or a couple of weeks after she arrived there. Somehow, the second option seemed very unlikely for him. Even though Temperance Brennan didn't mind having casual sex, he highly doubted she would sleep with someone that soon after their night together.

And Booth _knew_ she didn't sleep with anyone for a long time before that night.

But those evidences lead him to a conclusion that he didn't want to believe. Because she wouldn't do such a thing with him. She was the person he trusted the most in the world. She wouldn't hide his son from him. She _wouldn't _hurt him that way.

"Bones…" He looked at her and Brennan saw tears in those eyes for the second time in a year. For the second time _because _of her. She hated herself for doing that.

She knew that that little word was implied with a lot of questions, questions she wasn't willing to answer but she knew she had to.

Sobbing, she closed her eyes, bit her lips and nodded her head, confirming what he was fearing. "_Yes_… he's yours."

Her voice was so low that he almost couldn't hear what she had said, but the nod confirmed it was exactly what he heard she said.

_That that little baby was his son._

Booth looked at the kid once more and smiled between his tears. Ignoring Brennan completely for a couple of minutes, he just stared at the boy, who was smiling back at him, without a hint of an idea about what was happening in there.

"Hey." Booth said tickling him lightly on the chest. Tommy let out one of his cheerful screams and held his dad's finger in a tight grip. Booth chuckled, his heart immediately swelling with love for that innocent little boy.

He had a son. _Bones had _his_ son_. That crazy night originated a child. A_ beautiful _child.

A beautiful child who never met his father because he didn't know about him until that moment he broke into his partner's office to give her phone back to her.

"You had no right." Booth raised his head to look at her, his expression changing completely from delight to utter contempt. "_You. had. no. right_." He said between clenched teeth.

"Booth…" _Was that the only word she would say?_

"Was that the reason you slept with me that night?" He asked her, raising his voice a little showing his sudden scorn for her. "Because you wanted to get pregnant? Was because of that that you went to my apartment and seduced me with that ridiculous speech that you didn't want to die without knowing what was there between us? Because you _knew_ you were 'fertile' that night and I would be completely unable to resist you because you knew I was madly in love with you?" He hated her at that moment. All the love he had for her suddenly turned into disdain. The tears falling down his flushed face broke her heart. "Answer me, Temperance!" He demanded when she didn't say anything.

"_No_!" She yelled angry. How could he accuse her of doing such a horrible thing? Did he think she was _that _cold?

"No?" He snorted. "Because right now it pretty much seems like it."

"Why would I do that if I still have that donation you made a couple of years ago?" She snapped back, suddenly becoming very annoyed too. "It's not like I _needed_ to sleep with you to get impregnated, Booth. The chances of that happening in an artificial procedure were much higher. And if you don't recall, you wore a condom that night."

It was true. He remembered he was very careful about that exactly because he didn't want this happening. He lost the count of how many times he dreamed about having a family with her, but he didn't want it happening this way. He didn't want another child out of the wedlock. In all his dreams where Bones had his baby, he was there by her side during every step of her pregnancy, enjoying every moment with her, spoiling her in every possible way.

But she messed everything up. He wondered if she would ever tell him about the baby if he didn't find them there those minutes before.

The world was a funny place. How could he ever imagine what was waiting for him when he entered that familiar office?

"Had you ever planned to tell me about him?" He asked, now not as angry as before, but majorly disappointed, which, in Brennan's opinion, was much worse.

"I was going to tell you that night at the mall." She took all her strength to talk. "I wanted to tell you, Booth. _I did._ But you told me to not try to contact you while you were away, that you needed that time away from me to move on with your life, that you wouldn't be able to do that if you talked to me."

"_Goddammit, Temperance_! I think even someone as oblivious as you would realize that you getting pregnant with my baby was a good reason to break that request!" He said, anger taking over him again.

His words hurt her much more than if he slapped her in the face. She didn't mind people calling her oblivious or weird or anything like that. She was used to it. But hearing that from Booth was a stung in the heart.

"You would make me come back to DC." She said between sobs, but still not daring to break down completely in front of him. "You would come back and everything would be the same. Maybe worse. We needed that time alone, Booth, we couldn't give up everything just because you got me pregnant."

"_I had the right to know I was going to be a father_!" He yelled, his face completely red.

In all those years she worked with Booth, Brennan never saw him so angry.

"Not when that would make you screw with our lives!" She yelled back, thanking silently for it being already late afternoon and the lab being empty apart from them. "It seems I was right, because you had no problems moving on!" She added bitterly.

"You're right." He snorted, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath before continuing. "Thank God I met Hannah, someone who really loves me and has a heart in the chest instead of a stone!"

_Ouch._

"You're a jerk." She narrowed her eyes, even bluer now because of the tears. She _hated_ him. She _really _hated him at that moment. He had the right to be mad at her, but there was no need to offend her that way.

"Hmm… then we are just the perfect match, aren't we, Temperance?" He said sarcastically. She _hated_ that he was calling her Temperance."The cold fish and the jerk."

Tommy started crying, first only a whimper but quickly screaming on the top of his lungs, as if he knew his parents were fighting and most of it was because of him.

"Look what you've done…" Brennan threw him a disdain gaze and took her baby in her arms, rocking him gently while murmuring softly words in his ears. Booth could yell at her as much as he wanted, but he would _not _upset her innocent child. "_It's okay, Tommy… don't cry, we are just mad, but everything will be fine, honey, I promise… shhh… it's okay…_" She rubbed the baby's back and kissed his head, bouncing gently trying to calm him down.

Suddenly the anger drained from Booth's body as he watched her soothing the baby so naturally. _She was good_. He was right when he told her a couple of years before that she would be a great mother. The boy relaxed as soon as she took him in his arms, his little head now leaning on her shoulder.

Bones loved that little boy, he could see it. She could have been a bitch to him and not giving a damn about breaking his already bruised heart more times than he could count, but she did love their son.

Booth stared at them in silence for some seconds and wiped a tear from his face.

"Where are you going?" She asked worried as he rubbed his face with both his hands, turned around silently and walked towards the door.

_Would he really go away just like that?_

"I need time to think, Bones." He sighed, no feelings in his voice. "I need to time to let everything I just heard sink in and I can't do that here staring at you." Booth looked down and took a deep breath before looking at her again. "I'm sure you understand why you're not my favorite person at the moment, right?" He let out a sarcastically laugh. He wished it was all a nightmare and that he would wake up soon in that coma dream of his, where they were happily married and expecting a child _together_.

Brennan closed her eyes and nodded her head, holding Tommy tightly against her chest as hoping the baby would give her strength.

Giving her and their son one last look, Booth grabbed the doorknob.

"Take care of him."

And with that, he was gone.

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***passes kleenex box***

**:(**

**Will you leave me a review or you really, _really_ hate me at the moment? *pouts***

**Does it make things any better if I tell it wasn't easier for me to write than it was for you to read?**

**No? *frowns*  
**

**_Dammit._  
**


	11. Big Day

**11. Big Day**

**FLASHBACK**

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**FEBRUARY 16TH, PARIS, FRANCE.**

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The hospital was empty at two in the morning.

Temperance Brennan started feeling the not very pleasing contractions only two hours before. At first she thought they were just some backache and she didn't want to bother her friends in the middle of the night because of something so unnecessary. But when the pain became worse and she felt her bed wet – which made her conclude her water broke – she couldn't do anything but wake her friends up and ask them to take her to the hospital.

The birth would happen with the help of Dr. Martin, a doctor Brennan had been consulting since she came to France two months before and whom she trusted, the woman was considered one of the best ob/gyn in the country.

Still, she couldn't help feeling that uncomfortable anxiety in her chest. What if something happened to her during the birth? What if she died? Would her baby be okay?

Everything seemed fine during the pre-natal, but Brennan knew a lot of unexpected things could happen. She didn't want her little boy abandoned if something happened to her. Booth wasn't even aware of the fact he was about to become a father again.

"Sweetie, you don't have to worry." Angela brushed her friend's hair when she noticed her concerned face. She was now lying in the hospital bed – no more pain thanks to an amazing invention called epidural – and had Angela next to her while Hodgins went to cafeteria to get some coffee. For a man used to deal with corpses and creepy murders, he seemed very nervous about something so mundane like a child's birth. "Everything is going to be okay."

Her amazing friends were there, but there was only one person in the world Brennan wanted next to her at that moment and he was thousands of miles away from her. And that was her entire fault. She didn't even _tell _him about their son. For a moment, she regretted that decision. But he begged her to not contact him… he seemed so broken and sad… she just couldn't do that to him. What if he was moving on with his life? What if he did it already?

"What if they don't?" Brennan raised her eyes to look at Angela, ignoring the pain the thought of Booth moving on brought to her heart.

"They will, Brennan. Didn't you hear the doctor saying he is already in the correct position and all we need to do is wait for the dilatation to reach 10 cm?" Angela tried to calm her down. She could understand why her friend seemed so worried. The thought of pushing a baby out of your vagina was really a little terrifying.

"A lot of things can happen during the birth, Angela." Brennan looked directly at her friend's eyes. "What if I die?"

"For God's sake, Brennan!" Angela made a shocked face. "Don't even say things like that! Nothing bad will happen! In a few hours you'll be looking tired and wet but completely amazed by the cutest little boy in the world who'll be lying in your arms."

"Promise me you'll take care of him if I die, Ange." Brennan frowned and Angela saw tears in her eyes. "Promise me you'll tell Booth about him and that you'll make sure my baby won't be alone."

"You know he would be here right now holding your hand and telling you sweet things if you weren't so stubborn and told him about the baby. He would be so happy and so proud and wanting to scream to the rest of world his son was arriving." Angela pursed her lips and took one of her friend's hands.

"But he isn't here." Brennan said. "And I did what I had to do. It doesn't matter how I'm feeling right now, I'm just overly emotional due to the increase of hormone production the pregnancy provides. I know I made the right decision not telling him now, Angela. We _needed_ this time apart."

"Still sounds stupid to me, but I don't think you are in the best condition to argue at the moment." She opened a sad smile.

"Will you take care of him? You didn't promise me." Brennan remembered.

"Of course I will, Sweetie. But I'm sure everything will be perfect and one year from today you and Booth are going to be celebrating Tommy's first birthday." Angela grinned. "And I'll be responsible for the decoration, of course. I'm even thinking about the theme… maybe Winnie the Pooh, or maybe circus-"

"His name is Thomas, Angela." Brennan cut her off.

"Oh, come on, 'Thomas' sounds so serious for a baby. Tommy is cute." Angela pouted.

"Will anything I say change your opinion?" Brennan smiled.

"Nope." Angela opened a victorious smile.

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Three hours and a few pushes later, baby Thomas was lying in his tearful –but totally happy – mother's chest.

Brennan couldn't find the words to describe that moment, people told her before she'd only know that feeling once she had her child and right there, she understood what they meant. Seeing and touching her little boy for the first time was something she would never be able to explain. The instant love and protection instinct that fulfilled her body surprised her. She knew she would do _anything _for that child.

He was so tiny and so adorable and he was entirely hers.

_And Booth's._

More than ever, she wished he was there to share that amazing moment with her.

Looking at her innocent boy, she could see some of his father's features. The shape of his eyes, his mandible and his lips. He would be handsome, she concluded. Just like Booth.

She hoped everything would work out between them._ For their son._

That night they slept together might have ended the wrong way, but she would never consider it a mistake. It originated that beautiful boy she had in her arms and who became her whole life the moment she found out about him.

"I love you, Tommy." Brennan smiled between the tears while proffering her first words to her son. Angela was right. 'Thomas' sounded too serious for a baby boy. He was a _Tommy._ "No matter what happens, don't ever doubt it for a second. I love you _so much_."

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**SAME TIME, AFGHANISTAN.**

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It was a warm night and everyone in the unit was celebrating two entire weeks without any losses. There was a real party happening in there: beer, vodka, happy drunk people, lots of food and loud music.

While swaying around with Hannah on the improvised dance floor, Booth realized he didn't feel that happy and relaxed for a long time. He wondered if the reason of that feeling was the beautiful blonde woman smiling at him at that moment.

He loved her. Ok, maybe he didn't _love_ her yet, but he had no doubts he would love her someday. Hannah was everything he ever wanted for a woman: she was sweet, lovely, smart, funny, beautiful and they _never _argued. About _anything_. They were a perfect match. They had the same goals for the future. She had told him many times that she wanted to settle down and have a family someday. They lived in the same city. They both enjoyed sports and he never had to explain them to her. And most importantly: s_he made him happy._

A smile showed up in his face and the alcohol helped him in the sudden but completely natural decision he just made and which he thought was nothing but right.

"Hannah?" He pulled her closer and whispered in her ear.

"Yes?"

"Will you marry me?" He asked her while they were still dancing.

Hannah chuckled and looked at him amused. That was _not _what she was expecting him to say when he pulled her to dance closer. She was more like waiting to hear some dirty words alcohol encouraged her boyfriend to say.

"Are you drunk, Seeley?" She asked him, her arms wrapped around his neck and the grin never leaving her pretty face.

"A bit." He admitted. "But I mean it. You make me happy, Hannah. I think we would be really good together."

She smiled wider. That was probably the weirdest proposal a woman had ever gotten. And she _loved_ it. Hannah Burley wasn't exactly the traditional kind of woman. "Ask me again."

"Hannah Burley, will you marry me?" He smirked.

"Yes."

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**END OF FLASHBACK**

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Booth only realized how long he'd been wandering around when he got to the park he knew was around three miles away for the Jeffersonian. He still couldn't believe what just happened in Brennan's office. He didn't _want_ to believe in it.

He didn't want to believe his best friend betrayed him in such a horrible way. After all those years being with him every day and seeing everything he'd been through with Parker, how much it hurt him to not be able to see his son as much as he wanted, Brennan did something he didn't expect even an unknown one-night-stand woman would do.

She _hid _his son from him.

Booth set on the bench and let his head fall on his hands. Couldn't it be a nightmare?

Because it would be a _really _good time to wake up and realize none of that was real.

Brennan got pregnant that night. Even with all the care he took, she got pregnant.

"_Do you believe in fate?"_

His own words danced around in his mind. It _had_ to be fate.

He couldn't find another explanation for that. Or maybe God just liked to play with him and mess with his life every time it seemed to be taking the right way.

_Hannah._

Oh, Lord. How would he tell her? _"Hey, honey. Guess what? Remember my pretty blue-eyed partner I told you I was having some problems with? Well, seems like she just had my baby some months ago. Yeah, I didn't know about it. Yeah, honey, we had sex, but it was wrong and most likely a big mistake… that's why I thought there was no need to tell you about it. And oh, yes, I was madly in love with her."_

Crap.

_Damn, you, Temperance Brennan._

How could a woman change his life so drastically all the time?

_A drunk kiss._

_An acceptance of a partnership._

_An attempt of getting killed._

Many_ attempts of getting killed._

_A rejection of his love_

_A tear in her eyes._

_A smile on her face._

_Fucking damn you, Bones._

The image of her holding the baby so protectively came back to his mind.

Bones had a baby. _Their baby_.

_They had a son together._

Booth couldn't count how many times he wanted that to be real, but in none of his dreams it happened because of one crazy night followed by them in different places of the world for one entire year. Never in his dreams he found out about the child the way he did entering her office thinking he went there just to deliver her cell phone.

He thought of the baby boy again, so innocent and cute staring at him with the beautiful blue eyes he inherited from his mother. He _was_ his son. He hadn't doubt that for a second after he realized Brennan was his biological mother. That little boy reminded him of Parker when he was a baby.

_Thomas_. He liked the name she chose for him. He let out a laugh. It was somehow surprising the kid was lucky to get such a normal name, knowing Brennan the way he did, he wouldn't be surprised if she named her child after some crazy old ancient remain or famous genius.

Recovering his strength thinking about the baby boy, he realized things couldn't stay that way. As much as he was mad and disappointed with Brennan at the moment, he had to think about his son. No matter what Brennan said, no matter if in her super rational mind told her she would be a single mother, he would fight for his boy.

Because that baby _deserved _his father.

Suddenly deciding what he had to do, he hopped off the bench and prayed for a cab to drive by pretty fast. He had to have a serious conversation and it couldn't wait anymore.

He waited over one year to have it already.

It must have been his lucky day, because three minutes later he was inside the cab and heading to his partner's apartment.

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Brennan had just finished breastfeeding Thomas when she heard the knock on the door. She'd come back home right after Booth left her office. She'd never felt so bad in her life. So weak or so hurt. Maybe that was what she deserved for breaking his heart so many times. Having her heart broken too.

She looked down at the baby confused. Who would that be? It was still 9:30 pm, she hadn't call Angela yet, but she doubted her friend would be so anxious to know about how the encounter went that she would go to her apartment to get all the information she could about it.

Curious and holding her son protectively, she stood up from the couch and walked to the door.

Looking through the peephole and finding out who was standing on the other side of the door, her heart skipped a beat.

Closing her eyes and hoping he wouldn't shout more bad things at her face, she unlocked the door.

Booth looked as bad as she did, pale face and puffed eyes, she noticed.

After staring at her and Tommy for a while, he finally opened his mouth to speak.

"I think we need to talk".


	12. Our Baby Boy

**Hmmm… I think you guys were waiting for this!**

**I'll let you enjoy a bit of fluff for a change! Hehehe**

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_"I think we need to talk" _

Booth looked at the woman standing in front of him carrying a baby in her arms. She looked very pale and he could see she had spent a good amount of time crying giving the state of her eyes: red and very puffy.

He wished he didn't feel so guilty seeing her like that. He knew he was the reason for those tears. He had all the rights in the world to be pissed at her, but even he knew he shouldn't have said some of those things he had said to her. Booth more than anyone knew how much it hurt his partner when people called her cold and heartless and looking at her now, he knew that couldn't be more far away from the truth. A heartless and cold person wouldn't cry and look like crap like that because of someone's stupid words pronounced in a burst of anger. Nor would she hold and treat her son as tenderly as Brennan was holding Tommy.

"Will you keep screaming at me?" She asked tired. Not accusing him, not threatening. Just conformed and tired. "Because if so, just let me take Tommy to his nursery. I don't want him to be scared and agitated."

Brennan placed one of her hands on the back of the baby's head as if showing Booth she would not allow him to bother their son with screams again.

"I will not scream at you, Bones. When I said that we needed to talk, I really meant it." Booth said with a sigh. "I want to talk. Just talk."

Tommy looked at his mother, then turned to look at his father and opened a smile. Booth couldn't help when his lips turned up in a smile. _Did Tommy really inherit his mother crooked smile?_

"Can I hold him?" Booth looked at her and almost begged.

Brennan was taken by surprise by the sudden question, but quickly recovered and looked back at her partner.

"Sure." She said and got a little closer to him to hand him the baby, their arms brushing against each other while doing that. Both of them ignored the chill that ran through their bodies when their skin touched. "Just don't squeeze him too much, I just finished breastfeeding him. Every baby has gastroesophageal reflux and even though Tommy's is normal, you don't want him gushing all over your shirt. "

Booth wasn't listening to what she was saying, he was so enchanted by the baby boy coming to his arms without any trepidation that he couldn't focus in anything other than him.

When Tommy was already safe in his father's arms and Booth entered the leaving room, Brennan closed the door.

"Striped socks?" Booth asked amused when he noticed the orange socks with light green stripes Tommy was wearing. Brennan had changed the baby into one of his pajamas but she decided to keep the socks. It was a chilly night in DC.

"Angela's idea." Brennan smiled. "She thought it would be nice if you saw something related to you in Tommy when you first met, although it's clear that he has your eyes and mandible."

"His eyes are blue, Bones, the exact same shade of blue of yours." Booth looked at the baby and back at her confused. How could she think the baby had his eyes? Colorblind people saw green things brown, but Bones wasn't colorblind and Tommy's eyes were not green, so, that could not be an explanation.

"Yeah, but they have the same shape of yours. And they are just as warm as your brown ones." She pointed out.

It was not the first time she told him he had warm eyes, he noticed. Booth looked back at his son and smiled when he saw the little boy staring at him as if he was examining the man holding him. Then, as if he made a decision if he liked him or not, he placed one of his tiny hands on his father's cheek and grinned.

"Hey, buddy, I'm your Daddy." Booth said affect by the quick acceptance he got from his son. "I'm sorry I wasn't around very much before, but I promise you it will not be like that anymore." He stroked his baby boy's face. There was no way he would stay away from his son now that he knew about his existence.

Tommy held Booth's finger in his free hand and leaned his head on his father's shoulder.

Brennan didn't mind the tears running down her cheeks. She hoped she could pick her camera and take a picture of that scene. She was pretty sure she had never seen something as adorable as that in her whole life.

"He's a nice kid." Booth said proudly looking back at Brennan.

"He's sweet and funny and _very_ charming. He can get whatever he wants from us with one of his smiles and sometimes I think he knows that." She smiled at the baby. "He's always smiling. Tommy is really an easy baby. I'm glad he took that after you and is not a cold fish like his mother." She couldn't help saying. His words still hurt her.

"I'm sorry, Bones." He apologized sincerely and sat at the couch, still holding the baby. "I was really angry for finding out things the way I did. You know I don't think you are a cold fish or heartless. I just said that in the heat of the moment. What you did wasn't right, but I shouldn't have said those things."

"It was never my intention to hide Thomas from you, Booth." She sat next to him in the couch and sighed. "When I found out I was pregnant, I was really happy and I wanted to tell you, but you asked me to not contact you and I realized it would be better to wait till we came back to tell you about him."

"And make me miss all those moments I'll never be able to have again…" He added bitterly.

"Angela and Hodgins wanted me to tell you, but just because I was pregnant with your child didn't mean I didn't need that time alone to think about us anymore." She said.

"Angela and Hodgins knew all the time?" Booth asked hurt. Even _Hodgins_ knew about the baby and he didn't.

"I went to France to have the baby." Brennan bit her lower lip. "They've been amazing to me since I met them two months before having Tommy."

"Wait a minute… Tommy is French?" Booth knitted his eyebrows.

"Yes. He was born in Paris." She told him. "Although, since he's probably going to be raised here and is the child of two Americans, I would say he's an American boy. He already has his American certificate."

"My son is French?" He repeated not believing in it.

"Why does it bother you, Booth? The place where he was born has no influence in what he'll become whatsoever." Brennan made a face. "I know you are rather patriotic, but reacting like that just because he's not 'officially' American is completely nonsensical."

Booth pursed his lips and looked down at Tommy, who was starting to be sleepy but fighting against it with all his will, like he knew he should enjoy those little minutes of peace between his stubborn parents.

"Yeah, I guess we'll be fine besides that." Booth joked and pinched the baby's chubby cheek lightly. "How old is he by the way?"

"He'll be four months next week." Brennan informed him proudly. She couldn't believe how fast time passed past by. She felt it was just yesterday when she saw that positive sign in the pregnancy test.

Booth started making the counts in his head. Nine months through the pregnancy, plus Tommy's age… it meant he found out about his son exactly…

"Thirteen months…" He said thoughtfully.

"Less a week." Brennan completed his sentence, as if she was reading his mind.

When none of them spoke again, Brennan stood up and walked towards her bedroom.

"Where are you going?" Booth asked confused.

"I'll be back in a minute."

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Brennan kept true to her words and a minute later she was back at the couch, holding a piece of paper in her hands.

"What's that?" Booth asked curiously.

Brennan handed him the paper and took Tommy from his arms.

Booth opened the paper carefully and his heart started beating faster as he started reading it.

It was Tommy's birth certificate.

_Name: Thomas Brennan Booth_

_Date of Birth: February 16th 2011_

_Mother: Temperance Daessee Brennan_

_Father: Seeley Joseph Booth._

Thomas' last name was Booth. It was not hyphenated Brennan-Booth. It was only Booth.

"I know that you as an alpha male would like him to have your name." She said as if she knew what he was thinking. "I don't feel that much attached to my last name, which in reality isn't even my real last name, so, it's really not a problem. Brennan sounds nice as a middle name."

"Thanks, Bones." He wasn't sure why he was thanking her after all she has done, but he felt glad she cared and thought about him when she registered their little boy. For someone who asked him for his sperms two years before and claimed she wanted to be a single mother, he was touched that she gave Tommy his name.

"Like I said, Booth, it was never my intention to keep you away from Tommy's life. I don't want you to feel about him the way you do with Parker. You don't need to schedule visits or go to a judge to make sure you'll keep him at least once every two weeks." She looked at his eyes when she said that. "You're an amazing father, Booth. I wouldn't be that selfish taking that away from Tommy. If you want to be a part of his life, Tommy will be an incredible lucky boy for having you as a father."

Booth's anger towards his partner eased a bit after hearing that. Seeing the certificate and now her words that he could see Tommy as much as he wanted, he realized it wasn't really her intention to hide his son forever. But he still couldn't forget the fact he lost the first months of his life. He would forgive her one day. Sometimes it was hard for him to accept the conclusions her super rational mind made her make, but he _would _forgive her one day. He was a Christian boy and he learned soon that we should forgive the others. Also, it was Bones we were talking about. He would never be able to _really_ hate her. It was true that the people who we love the most are the one who hurts us the hardest, but they would find a way to work things out. After all, they were Booth and Bones and they had a son to think about. Tommy was the most important thing now and as much hurt as he was, he should try to forgive her.

"I'm glad about that." He said sincerely. He didn't want to go to the justice to make sure he would be allowed to see his son. Especially when he would have to be there fighting for something having Bones as his opponent.

"I just don't want him sleeping away from me for the next months or so… You can have him during the day and you can come here to see him at night, but…" Brennan bit her lips and Booth could see she was trying not to cry. She held the baby tighter against her chest. Booth cursed Brennan silently for making him want to hug her just seeing her so vulnerable at only the thought of staying away from her baby for a night. He was mad at her, he wasn't supposed to feel the urge to comfort her. "He's still so small and I'm still nursing him and-"

"Bones." He took her hand in his and lifted her chin with her finger so she could look directly at him. "I will not try to take our baby boy away from you." Her heart skipped a beat when he said _'our baby boy'_. "This situation is not even near how I wanted it to be, but I'm already glad I have free access to him. I know how much babies need their mothers during the first months of their lives. I won't take him to spend a night alone with me unless he's ready for that." He saw the fear in her eyes. "And unless _you _are ready for that." He added, unable to hide a smile.

Brennan smiled back, even though she thought she would never feel ready to stay away from Tommy. No matter how old he would be, she felt she would never like the feeling of having her son someplace away from her.

They held their gazes for a long moment and during that, they forgot about everything that happened in the past year. Booth had forgotten how easy it was to get lost in her beautiful eyes. Parker was right. _No one had eyes like hers._

Their moment was broken by a whimper and Booth smiled when he looked at the boy, suddenly annoyed for not being the center of the attention anymore. Tiny blue eyes stared back at him. _Well, someone got pretty close to that._

"I don't want the fact that we have a son messes up with your life." Brennan said, snapping them back to the reality. She couldn't forget he would be getting married soon. "Do you think Hannah will be very mad?"

"It's not like I hid it from her…" Booth said. "Hannah is a wonderful woman and she got along pretty well with Parker. I don't see why she wouldn't accept Tommy."

"Not every woman would be pleased by the idea of their future husband having a son with his working partner." Brennan commented.

"Well, if she doesn't accept him, than she's not the woman I think she is." Booth shrugged. "He's my son, Bones." He took the boy from her arms again and she didn't stop him. Booth lifted Tommy a little so he could get a better view of the baby. Staring at his son's face, he had no doubts he would do anything for that child. "I wouldn't think twice if I had to choose between a woman and my kid."

Brennan couldn't help feeling relieved hearing those words. Things weren't exactly back to normal but they were better than she expected them to be.

She and Booth seemed to share the same thought about what was the best for their son and staring at Booth and Tommy, she knew that man would do everything in his power to protect and love that little boy and, for now, that was more than she could ask for.

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**I would end this chapter with a huge cliffhanger, but I decided to nice and leave you with this nice chapter before new things happen… hehehe**

**I hope you liked the way things went, I just can't see the two of them being mean to each other. They love each other to much for that. Booth is still hurt, but he loves his son and he cares about Bones.**

**By the way, Daessee is Brennan's middle name in the Kathy Reichs books. I never read them, but I made a research. (especial thanks to **AlwaysAndForeverOTH) **;)**

**Please, don't forget to review!**


	13. Secret Out

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"Oh, ho! Look at that! _Tommy Boy_!" Hodgins exclaimed with a grin on his face when Brennan entered the lab struggling with Tommy in one of her arms and a huge baby bag in the other. "What is he doing here?" Hodgins asked as he helped his friend with the bag.

Cam, who was running some tests on a sample and sitting near them, creased her forehead when she saw the forensic anthropologist with the baby.

"I apologize for being late, but his nanny called me this morning to inform she wouldn't be able to watch him today due to a bad case of conjunctivitis she's presenting." Brennan told her boss.

"May I ask you why you brought this boy to the lab?" Cam asked, more confused than ever.

"I just explained to you, Cam, his nanny-" Brennan repeated.

"No… I want to know what you are doing with this baby." Cam pointed at Tommy.

"Oh, this is my son, Thomas." She said like it was nothing. She was supposed to tell Cam about Tommy long ago, but she kept postponing the talk and just realized her boss was still unaware of the baby's existence.

"_Your son_?" Cam raised both eyebrows and looked between Brennan and Hodgins, as trying to ask the entomologist to give her some help there.

"_Bones_! You're here! We have this case-" Booth approached the platform, taking two steps at a time. "What is Tommy doing here?"

He stayed at her house the night before till the baby fell asleep – in his arms – and left with a promise of seeing the kid again the next day. But he was not expecting it would happen so early in the morning.

"_You know about him_?" Cam asked her long-time friend.

"Long story." He sighed. "I just found out about him yesterday." Booth reached his arms out to Brennan and she handed him the baby, relaxing when the heavy little body left her arms. That boy was really chubby. "Hey, how's my little guy today? Did you sleep well or you just gave your mommy a hard time last night?" He said changing his voice to a baby tone.

"Booth, you know I dislike when you change your tone like that to talk to him, it really doesn't help his verbal development-" Brennan started saying and got rolled eyes as an answer.

"'_My little guy_'"? Cam asked making a shocked face. _What the hell was happening in there?_

"That cute little thing is Booth and Brennan's creation." Hodgins elbowed her arms and whispered, while the two partners were distracted bickering if it was right or not to change the tone of their voice to talk to the baby.

Cam's mouth dropped and she stared at the scene happening in front of her. After a 'never mind' from Booth's side, both he and Brennan smiled as they tried to get Tommy's attention.

"Did I go to sleep last night and woke up in the future this morning? What the hell is that?"

Hodgins opened one of his mischievous smiles, the one he used to show when he was about to tell a conspiracy theory. "You're _not_ going to believe it…"

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"So… this child was not made through in vitro fertilization like Dr. Brennan wanted to do a couple of years ago?" Cam asked trying to organize all the information she was provided in the past ten minutes.

"Yes, it happened… the normal, old-fashioned way." Booth looked at his son so Cam wouldn't notice his flushed face. People could call him a prude, he didn't mind. He was not comfortable talking about those things in front of his friend and the woman he spent said night with.

"And now you're getting married with a journalist you met in Afghanistan?" Cam raised one eyebrow and looked at the partners.

Brennan chewed her cheeks and seemed suddenly very interested in a medical magazine Cam had at her table.

"It was just one night, Cam…" Booth said shyly, hoping that chat would be over soon. _Thank you for the interrogatory in front of Bones, Cam. That's really nice of you. _Tommy grabbed his father tie and squinted. "I love Hannah and we're getting married in the end of the year."

That was another stung in Brennan's heart. They were going to get married _that_ fast? She closed her mouthed when she realized her jaw dropped.

"Right." Cam said but he caught the sarcasm in her agreement. "And does this Hannah know about your _son_ with _Brennan_?" Cam asked with a know-it-all expression in her face. If the woman knew about the real thing between those two, she was pretty sure she wouldn't be _that _willing to get married with Booth.

"I was going to tell her yesterday, but when I got home she was already asleep." Booth explained.

"You didn't tell her?" Brennan finally talked.

"I'm going to tell her tonight. I don't think it's fair to neither her or Tommy to keep this situation a secret." He brushed his baby's tiny hand and smiled. Tommy looked up at his daddy and let out an "oh" and looked back at the Simpson's tie. "Yeah, buddy, this is a very nice tie. Your mother told me wearing these funny ties is a way to declare my distinctiveness and be a rebel against FBI rules." Booth told him. "I might get one for you, you would look pretty cute."

"You're not going to put a tie on him, Booth." Brennan said right away.

"Why not?" He looked up at her.

"He's three months old and it's completely unnecessary, not to mention quite dangerous." She said.

"Oh, but he would look so cute, wouldn't you, Tommy Boy?" Booth tickled the little baby's belly and Tommy let out one of his adorable laughs. "See? He wants a tie." He pouted.

"Booth-" Brennan started to say.

Cam cleared her throat to remember them she was also there and there were a lot of things they had to discuss.

"I'm sorry to interrupt the family time there, but I need to know what we are going to do here… do you plan to bring the baby to the lab?" She asked. Even though those two people were her friends, she was still the boss in the Jeffersonian.

"I'm still breastfeeding him so I would really appreciate if I could have him here at least half the day. He has a nanny and my office has enough room for all the baby's gadgets." Brennan said. "I promise it won't disturb mine or anyone's work in here."

"I don't see any problem if there's a nanny involved, but I'm not sure how the FBI will react to this…" She said sincerely.

Brennan and Booth shared a worried look.

"So they also don't know…" Cam pursed her lips. "I see. You really got yourselves in a big mess here, didn't you?"

"They can't sever our partnership just because we have a baby together, can they?" Brennan asked Booth.

"I don't know, but I don't think they'll be very thrilled about this, Bones…" Booth said concerned.

"It's not like we are romantically involved." She said. "You're going to get married to Hannah!"

"I know, Bones, but we are not supposed to get involved in any way besides being partners, and a son kind of change things…" He stroked Tommy's head while the baby sucked his chubby hands, completely oblivious about what was happening around him.

"I will take this as my cue to leave." Cam grinned and nodded her head before leaving the office. _And I think my crap books are dramatic… I would love to see what the Donavans would say if they worked here… probably they would stop complaining about their almost perfect family life… _

"We can talk to Hacker tomorrow, I'm sure he will not be against it." Brennan said firmly.

_Hacker. _Booth gulped.

He wondered how the assistant-director would react to the news. He assured him there was nothing between him and his partner when he asked him about them, now he would arrive there with an almost four-month old baby. Although Booth knew Brennan didn't sleep with his boss' boss' boss – what he thanked God everyday for, imagine if Tommy was oversized head Hacker's son? _Please_… he could take that as a proof there was a man up there taking care of things. He could not even bear the thought of his Bones sleeping with Andrew. Or_ anyone else_ for the matter –, he knew they went out on some dates before Brennan went to Indonesia and maybe he wouldn't get the baby news that well.

Well,_ he_ wouldn't worry about that. What mattered was that the cute baby in his arms was Bones' kid with _him_. Not Hacker's, not Sully's, not Fisher's – _ew_ -, it was _his_ son. A _Booth_.

"Don't worry, Bones. They won't dare to break us up." He assured her. If they did, he was pretty sure he wouldn't have a lot of problems trying to get another job. He was the best in his field. "And we also have to tell Parker."

"And my Dad…" Brennan bit her lower lip.

"_Max doesn't know_?" Booth asked one octave higher, making the baby look up at him startled.

"I didn't think it would be fair with you to let people know about him when you didn't." Brennan pouted. "I mean, besides Angela and Hodgins. And you know my father can be quite overprotective…"

"_Tell me about it_." Booth sighed. Max would probably burn him alive in the middle of the mall when he found out Brennan had Booth's baby and now Booth was going to marry someone else. It didn't matter it was not his choice to find someone else. Max wouldn't care about the fact it was Brennan who dumped him and broke his heart. _Nope._ He would only care about the fact he got his daughter pregnant and was now going to tie the knot with another woman.

"You don't have to be there with me when I tell him." Brennan said, seeing the fear in Booth's eyes. "As I don't think my presence will be needed or appreciated when you tell Hannah."

"Makes sense." Booth said. _Please, my guardian angel, protect me from Mr. Keenan's anger and allow me to see my sons grow up._"But I want you to be with me when I tell Parker."

"I would like that as well, yes. I hope Parker will accept the idea of having a brother positively." Brennan said a bit concerned.

"You're kidding me?" Booth let out a laugh. "He'll be_ thrilled_. He's been asking me for a brother since forever and you know he worships you."

"It means a lot to me that they get along well. I know how important it is to have a brother." Brennan smiled. "Although I don't see mine very often, Russ was really amazing to me while we were growing up. I mean… before my parents disappeared and you know the rest…"

Booth nodded. She didn't have to say anything else. He knew her story better than anyone else.

"Will Hannah be there too?" She didn't like that idea very much. "When we tell Parker?"

"I don't think she'll feel comfortable about that." Booth said honestly. "But since she'll obviously be a part of Tommy's life, being my wife, I think I have to give her a choice and ask her to go with us."

"Of course…" Brennan frowned, trying not to display her bother.

"Bones, we gotta go." Booth looked at his watch and realized they were supposed to be at the crime scene thirty minutes ago. "We are already pretty late. Do you think Angela can watch him while we go there?"

"Sure… I'll ask her." She said taking Tommy from Booth's arms. "Angela loves taking care of him."

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It was almost nine pm when Booth finally came back home that night. The case was solved easily during that afternoon, the murderer was probably the dumbest man Booth had ever arrested and he took Brennan and Tommy back home before coming back to his own apartment. He inhaled the amazing smell coming from the kitchen and saw his fiancée staying in front of the stove wearing an apron.

"Seeley!" Hannah opened a smile that reached her eyes when she saw him standing at the doorframe. "I was starting to get worried."

"I was finishing the paperwork from a case." He leaned down and kissed her lightly on the lips. "Whatever it is, it smells _really_ good."

"Roast beef." She smirked. "Mom's receipt."

_God_, she looked happy. He hoped she wouldn't get the news very badly when he told her about Tommy. He really liked Hannah. He doubted he could find a woman who would make a better wife.

"Hmm… are we celebrating something?" He teased her.

"Well… we can say that." She grinned and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Honey, I'm pregnant."

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	14. Realization

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"What?" Booth took a step back from her, completely shocked by what she had just informed him. She couldn't be pregnant. He couldn't possibly really have that much super sperm. Because if Hannah was really pregnant, or he was the master of the breeders or God really chose him to be his favorite toy. Getting three different women pregnant when he was not trying for that even once wasn't really a common thing.

Good thing he had been going celibate for a long time after he broke up with Cam, otherwise, he would be beating the Jolie-Pitts by now if he kept that rhythm.

"I said I was pregnant." Hannah knitted her eyebrows, taken aback by his reaction to her news. She thought he would be happy. He loved his son and he'd always told her how much he wanted to have more kids.

"You sure?" He asked, his mind miles away from that room.

"Well, I'm not one hundred percent sure; my period is late for four days and it was never late before and I've been feeling very nauseated lately. I'm going to see my doctor tomorrow morning to confirm, but I'm pretty sure there's a baby growing inside me." She smiled and brought her hand to her belly. "Isn't it great?"

Booth was speechless. He didn't know what to say and his mind wasn't helping him either. Something wasn't right. He was supposed to be glad about that. It was his _fiancée_ the woman telling him she was expecting their child. She was_ happy_ about it. His life was finally the way he always dreamt it to be and suddenly it couldn't seem more wrong to him. That child would be born inside the wedlock, he would be able to enjoy Hannah's pregnancy the way he couldn't enjoy Rebecca's and Brennan's. Hannah was so willing to share the news with him that she didn't even wait for the confirmation of the results to tell him about it.

And yet Booth caught himself wishing it wasn't true.

_But why wouldn't he like the idea of having a baby with Hannah?_

Did he like being miserable? Did he like the pain?

_What the hell was wrong with him?_

"Seeley?" Hannah asked worried. He's only said three words since she told him about the pregnancy. "Are you okay?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, Hannah." He shook his head and was snapped back to reality. "I was just not expecting it."

"I thought you wanted more kids…" She frowned.

"I do." He said fast. "I just didn't think it would happen this fast."

"Me neither." She smiled and looked down at her belly. "But it's amazing, right? I was also a bit shocked at first, but now I'm really looking forward to it."

"Yeah, it's amazing…"

Booth said the words but once again his head was far away. He couldn't tell Hannah about Tommy. Not now. Not when she just told him about the child they were probably having together. He would feel like he was stealing her thunder. It didn't seem right to tell your fiancée about your newly-founded baby when she just announced she's going to have one baby herself.

It wouldn't hurt to wait just one more day.

He could tell her the following night, when the pregnancy would be already confirmed.

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"Did he tell Hannah Banana already?" Angela asked Brennan during the afternoon the next day. They were waiting for Wendell to finish cleaning some bones so Brennan could prepare them for Angela to make an identification.

"Her name is Hannah _Burley_, Angela." Brennan corrected her. When Angela rolled her eyes, she narrowed hers. "I hope you're not trying to make a joke with her name. I don't have enough knowledgement about Ms. Burley's life to make a statement, but she seems like a very nice person. Booth wouldn't ask her to marry him otherwise."

"Do you really think that woman is nice, Brennan? No one is _that_ perfect!" Angela grimaced. "She spent months in the desert and she came back with her blonde hair shining as a brand new Barbie's? I'm telling you, Sweetie, there's something wrong with her."

"Some people have naturally shining hair, Angela. It's in their genetics. If someone has a healthy diet and-" Brennan started to explain but was cut off by her friend.

"Stop. I will not listen to you trying to defend Barbie. That hair is not natural. Believe me, Sweetie, I'm an expert on that matter. She probably just made a deal with Satan to get her hair that good while that long in the middle of nowhere." Angela gave her a knowing gaze. "Good thing I'm an amazing human and I'm going to heaven, so I won't have to still see her perfectly annoying face in the afterlife."

Brennan decided to not start a long chat about religion and how heaven and hell were completely fictitious places. She knew Angela was not a big religious person and was just saying that as a joke.

"Having fake hair is not a sin, Angela. Millions of women around the world dye their hair and do treatments in beauty salons, including you and me." She reminded her.

Angela rolled her eyes again. It was useless trying to argue with Brennan.

"You didn't tell me if Booth told her about Tommy." Angela said. She secretly hoped he did and the Barbie had a hissy fit and called off the wedding. _That _would be amazing news.

"Why are you grinning?" Brennan squinted.

"Nothing." Angela said quickly. "So, did he?"

"I don't know." Brennan shrugged. "I still haven't seen him today."

"And you didn't call him to ask?" Angela asked not believing.

"Why would I? It's between him and his fiancée, Angela. I have nothing to do with that." Brennan said, although she couldn't help feeling that annoying thing inside her chest every time she thought about Booth spending time alone with Hannah. Time he would be spending with _her_ if things were different.

"Seriously, Sweetie, sometimes I envy your willpower." Angela leaned back in her chair. "Because I _know _you're dying to know how things went, even if you pretend you don't care."

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"We can check the results tonight on the internet." Hannah said excitedly when they left the medical building. "Aren't you anxious?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty anxious." Although, deep down he knew they were anxious for completely different reasons. Booth would love to have another child, but that was_ not_ the right moment. He had just found out about his other son a couple of days ago. He wasn't ready to have another baby with a _different _woman right now.

"I hope it's a girl." Hannah said daydreaming. "I always wanted to have a girl and you already have Parker. She would be so pretty, don't you think?"

"You shouldn't start making so many plans, honey. We still don't even know if you are really pregnant." Booth said sincerely. He didn't want her disappointed if the tests came out negative.

"You've been acting weird lately, Seeley." Hannah comment when she entered the car. "It's almost like you don't want this pregnancy to be real."

"No it- it's not like that!" He said quickly and turned on the car. "Like I said, I was just surprised. Obviously I'll be really happy if it's true." And he would. A child was always a blessing.

But he couldn't lie to himself that at the moment he hoped with all his strength that she was not expecting a baby.

When they stopped at the red light, he felt his cell phone buzzing.

"Booth." He answered.

"Booth, it's Brennan." Since they came back, she didn't referee to herself as Bones when she talked to him anymore. He wondered if she did that to make things less intimate between them. "Are you busy now?"

"I'm just on my way to drop Hannah at the newspaper. What's wrong?" He asked her. She sounded worried.

"Molly, Tommy's nanny, just called me to tell me she's not feeling well and she needs to come back home. She thought she was cured from the conjunctivitis but seems like she was wrong. It's very infectious and I don't feel comfortable with the idea of him around her at the moment. I'm stuck at the lab and it would take me at least half an hour to pick him up at home and bring him back here, do you think you can do that for me?" She almost begged.

"Sure, I'm near your apartment." Booth said right away, forgetting completely that Hannah was sitting next to him and that she had no idea about Tommy's existence.

"Thank you, Booth." Brennan said relieved. "I really appreciate what you are doing for me."

"Anytime, Bones." He said and hung up the phone.

"What happened?" Hannah asked.

"Bones asked me to pick up her son and take him to the Jeffersonian. His nanny is sick." Booth said. It was not a lie. "Is there a problem if you get at the newspaper ten minutes later?"

"No, of course not." She said. "You didn't tell me Dr. Brennan had a kid."

"I didn't know that till a couple of days ago." He told her. Again, not a lie. "He's four-months old."

"Oh, that's really cute." Hannah smiled. "It will be nice for our child to have a friend almost the same age."

Booth clenched his fingers on the steering wheel. "Yeah… it will be _great_…"

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Brennan had called Molly to tell her Booth would pick up Tommy, so when Booth arrived at the apartment seven minutes later, the baby was ready to go and his bag was packed. The nanny apologized a million times and Booth said there was no problem.

Tommy opened his famous smile when he saw his father and Hannah got his bag when they walked back to the car.

"That's an adorable baby." Hannah said and looked at her fiance with the baby in the backseat through the driver's mirror. "And he seems really happy."

"He's a nice kid." Booth said proudly and played with Tommy making funny faces to the little boy.

"Do you think our child will be like that?" She asked and Booth swallowed. The more he heard about it, the less he liked the idea. "Viv, my niece, wouldn't go to anyone but my sister when she was a baby. Poor Paige was exhausted in the end of the day."

"Every baby is different." Booth shrugged. "Parker was also pretty nice but he was way shyer than Tommy here is." He smiled at his son.

"We're here." Hannah said when she parked at the Jeffersonian.

Booth was taking Tommy out of the baby seat when Hannah poked him in the arm.

"Can I take him?" She asked with a grin on her face. "I'm not sure if it's my instincts already kicking but I would love to carry him."

"Sure." He said. What else could he say?

Hannah took Tommy in her arms and smiled when the baby didn't cry. He wasn't smiling the way he was when Booth got him, but Hannah thought she was doing a good job.

Booth felt terrible for not telling her that kid she was holding was his son. He was a coward, he realized. A big coward who didn't know what to do about his life. _A huge coward with freaking powerful sperms._

_Well, at least he made pretty beautiful boys_, he smiled looking at his baby boy in Hannah's arms.

"I can't wait till our baby is here." Hannah grinned and stroke Tommy's bald head.

When they entered the lab, Booth noticed Brennan wasn't at the platform.

"Bones must be in her office, it's this way." Booth pointed to the left.

While they were walking to the office, Tommy dropped his pacifier on the floor and started to cry on the top of his lungs.

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Brennan's heart stopped when she heard a cry. She knew that cry. She could recognize it miles away.

Jumping off her chair, she run out of her office to see what was wrong with her baby.

She couldn't explain the rush of emotions that overtook her body when she saw the scene happening in front of her eyes.

_Anger, fear, annoyance, jealousy._

What the hell was the blonde doing with her son in her arms?

The little boy's face was flushed and Booth couldn't find the spare pacifier in the bag.

Without thinking twice, Brennan took the baby out of Hannah's arms and looked at her and Booth pissed.

_"What did you do with my son?"_

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	15. No

**New Chapter for you, my beloved readers!**

**By the way, those of you who read "The Partners in Denial", don't worry, I did not forget about the story. I will finish it. I have the whole idea in my head about how it will end, I just have to find the will to write it…**

**EDIT: Thank you so much SouthunLady for pointing out the mistakes in the chapter so I could correct them! :)**

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"_What did you do to my son?"_

"Nothing- he just-" Hannah didn't know what to say. The woman standing in front of her looked furious. Even though she had done nothing wrong with the baby, the stare Brennan was giving her made her feel like she was torturing the little boy.

Tommy's cry turned into a smile when he got into his mother's arms. Booth couldn't help feeling his heart melt with that scene, although he was pretty bothered by the way Brennan just talked to his fiancée.

"Hey, baby." Brennan said softly to her son and brushed his cheeks with her fingers.

"I'm sorry… his pacifier-" Hannah tried to explain, trying hard not to cry. _Was she really that terrible with babies?_

"Please don't." Brennan said, not in the mood to talk to the woman. "I'll just take him to my office." She looked at Booth and shot him a gaze of odium. "Thank you for bringing him."

Brennan stomped back to her office with her baby safe in her arms and Booth followed her, not believing the way she just treated Hannah.

"_You didn't have to be that rude to Hannah!"_ Booth said angrily once they got to her office. "She didn't do anything to Tommy!"

"What did you want me to do?" Brennan replied acidly, putting the baby in the crib set up in her room just that morning. Tommy was distracted by the colorful baby mobile placed on the edge of the crib and didn't seem to notice the tension between his parents. "Tommy is not really the kind of baby who cries for nothing. I thought _you_ would be picking him up!"

"I was! But I told you on the phone that Hannah was with me. She was actually pretty nice with the whole situation and didn't mind being late to work because you asked me to pick up Tommy and bring him here. She asked if she could hold him when we got at the lab, and I didn't see any problem in that." He spat. "She's going to be his stepmother, it's _expected_ that he gets used to her and you should be glad she's nice with him."

Brennan forgot how to breathe for a moment while picturing Booth and Hannah spending the weekend with _her_ son, having picnics in the park, like _they_ were a happy little family.

"Does she even know he's also _your _son?" Brennan asked, suddenly curious. "Because it _really _doesn't seem like she does."

"I was going to tell her yesterday, but there were some things… and- I, I just couldn't." He admitted uncomfortably. Why didn't he want to tell Brennan about Hannah's suspicions of a pregnancy?

"You_ couldn't_?" She snorted.

"I'm telling her today, no matter what happens." Booth assured her. He couldn't keep that a secret from Hannah any longer. Not when she had already met the baby. It didn't feel very right to tell her the same day she got her pregnancy confirmed or denied, but there was no other way.

"Whatever you want to do Booth, I just don't want my son feeling uncomfortable around strangers." Brennan said dryly.

"Hannah is not a stranger!" Booth cried. _Jesus!_

"She is to Tommy and she is to me." She said. "If you don't feel adequate to take proper care of him alone, you can take Molly with you when you are responsible for Tommy or make sure I'm around if any unusual thing happens."

"_I can take care of my son_! I just don't see what's wrong with letting Hannah _hold_ him, for God's sake!" Booth exhaled annoyed.

"I don't feel comfortable around her." Brennan admitted in a low voice. "Probably Tommy feels the same way."

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Hannah was drumming her fingers on the table while waiting for the laboratory from the clinic she went to that morning for her exam's website to download. In a matter of minutes she would find out if she was or if she wasn't carrying a baby.

"Is it me or the internet is incredibly slow tonight?" She turned around to ask Booth, who was sitting in the couch, his hands tied clenched tightly in a tense position. What that page had to say would change his future forever.

"It's loaded." He pointed at the screen with his head.

"Oh."That was the only thing that came out from Hannah's mouth.

"_Oh_?" Booth said raising one eyebrow, his heart beating fast inside his chest. _What was that supposed to mean?_

"It- it's not possible." Hannah brought both her hands to her mouth, her voice shaken_. She had all the symptoms._ Her period was late, she was feeling tired and nauseated lately. When she held that little boy earlier that day, she wanted with all her heart to have a baby herself.

"What is not possible?" Booth stood up from the couch and went to see the result himself, since it seemed like Hannah wouldn't share the news. _Please, good God, don't let it be twins… _

"_Negative?_" He gasped when saw the result in big, capital, bold letters, his whole body getting two thousand pounds lighter only from the sight of that single word. "You're not pregnant?" He tried not to show how relieved he was with that information.

"I don't understand." Hannah wept. "I was so sure…"

"Oh, honey, don't be so sad." Booth tried to soothe her. He hated to see a woman crying, especially a woman he cared about. "Maybe you are still having a hard time adapting to coming back home, it can change your hormones." Working for over five years with the Squint Squad and spending a lot of time with Brennan, Booth ended up learning some things by osmosis. "Or maybe you're anemic. You've been working non-stop, Hannah." He reminded her.

"I wasn't expecting to be pregnant when I realized my period was late and decided to take the test, but then, I _really_ wanted it to be real." She leaned her head on his shoulder, looking for comfort.

"You're still young." He brushed her hair, feeling guilty for having such different feelings about that "pregnancy". "You still have a lot of time to get pregnant."

"You think?" She frowned.

"Of course!" He assured her.

"Can we start trying?" A smile suddenly appeared on her face. "I know it's a bit early, but after I held Dr. Brennan's son this morning, I realized how much I wanted to have a baby of my own. I feel like I am ready to have kids. I don't want to wait."

Booth's breathe caught on his throat. Images of Brennan, Tommy and Parker were all in his head. When he pictured his future and what he wanted it to be like, those were the people he saw in it. _Yes_, he wanted to have more kids. But he couldn't see having them with _another _woman. He didn't see himself fathering three children with three different mothers.

He wanted a little girl. He smiled. After having two handsome boys, he wouldn't mind having a cute little girl to spoil. _A blue-eyed cute little girl with dark curls and the sweetest smile._

He gasped at his thoughts.

That would never happen. Even after Brennan got pregnant with his son, she didn't want him to be a part of her life, a part of her family. She assured Booth she would allow him to be a participant father in Tommy's life, but at no time did she give any indication she wanted him to be a part of_ her_ personal life.

Booth was still hurt by the way she handled things, the way she left his apartment that night, how she fled to Indonesia for one year and hid his son from him. That disappointed him beyond words and was something he never expected his best friend to do to him.

But now, looking at Hannah and listening to her talk about their future and how much she wanted to have his children, he realized it wasn't what_ he_ wanted.

Maybe he really liked the pain, maybe he would be alone forever, but he couldn't keep fooling himself. Hannah was an amazing woman. She was pretty and lovely. She was smart and brave. She went to Afghanistan because she wanted to give people a different view of what happened there, to show the life those people lived beyond the war. She agreed with him all the time, she was catholic and she wanted to settle down and have a family with him. She would be a perfect wife.

_But Booth didn't want a perfect wife._

It didn't make sense now that he thought about it, but thinking about them together, Booth knew they wouldn't work out in the long run. Exactly because everything was _way_ too perfect. He had no doubts he would be bored to death in a matter of two years. _Maybe less_.

Booth needed challenge in his life. That was why he went to the war that first time. That was why he started working in the FBI. That was why he fell in love with Bones.

Because things between them were _never_ boring or dull. They fought, they argued, they bickered – a _lot_ – but they would always find a way to come back to each other. Because that was how they were and, in the end, no matter who won the discussion, both of them would have learnt something new. And both of them would do everything in their power to make things between them work out.

"_You complement each other."_

Sweets first conclusion about them came back to his mind. The kid psychologist was right. He needed his Bones. His life had been empty since she left his bed that night. Hannah made him feel good, yes, but he'd never felt complete again since that day. The only real time in the past year he remembered feeling whole and healed was when he was putting Tommy to sleep that night he went to Brennan's apartment to talk to her about the baby boy. When he forgot all she'd done, when he forgot all that happened and how mad he was at her, and just enjoyed the moment. Brennan thought he wasn't watching, but he caught the grin on her face while she was staring at him rocking their son.

_Their son._

_One night. _

That was all they needed to make a baby.

"_Do you believe in fate?"_

"_I feel like this is going somewhere…"_

"_I knew… right from the beginning."_

Then it hit him.

He couldn't marry Hannah.

She deserved a good man, a man who would love her the way she deserved to be loved, not a man who was still – _crap! _– in love with another woman.

He loved Bones. That was the sad and undeniable truth. He loved and would always love her. He didn't want to start another family, he had a family already. And he would fight for it. He would fight for Brennan and also for Tommy. Fight the way he hadn't fought when she told him she couldn't do it.

He was so hurt by the way she was acting after the beautiful thing that happened between them that he forgot that it was Brennan the woman with him. The damaged and abandoned child, scared and afraid of love. At no time had she said didn't love him.

"_You thought you were protecting me but you are the one who needs protection."_

"_Protection from what?"_

"_From me! I- I don't have your kind of open heart."_

It might take time, it would definitely take a lot of hope and patience, but it would be all worth in the end.

Booth would show Brennan that they were meant to be together and there was nothing she should be afraid of.

They were a perfect match.

_Heart & Brain._

_Reason & Emotion._

Booth smiled. After over one year, he finally had a goal to reach out for.

After over one year, he felt alive again.

"Seeley?" Hannah called him, uncertain why he looked like his mind was far away from that living room.

"What?" He said, finally looking at her again.

"I asked you if we can start trying for a baby." She repeated.

"No." The words came out a bit harsh from his mouth and he tried again, a bit softer this time. After all, Hannah's only mistake was falling in love with him and he knew better than anyone how much it hurt to be rejected by the person you love. "No, we can't." He raised his eyes to look at her, a sympathetic smile on face. "I'm sorry, Hannah, but I can't do this."

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**I swear I don't do this on purpose.**

**I know you hate cliffhangers, but I just write whatever comes to my mind and it ends up the way it does. **

**Some people complain a lot about the cliffhangers and I'm truly sorry about them, I know it's a pain in the ass to have to wait for the next chapter, but since I update quite often, I think I can be forgiven for that, right?**

**Also, I think you'd rather have an idea of what's going to happen the next chapter than be completely clueless about it.**

**I personally like that.**

**AND, this was a good cliffhanger, wasn't it? ;)**

**Oh, another thing.**

**I want to change my penname and I would love suggestions! Maybe I'll choose the ones I like the best and next chapter I make a poll, the most voted one will be the chosen (I'm the most undecided person in the world).**

_**msralways **_**suggested "Cliffhanger Queen" lol, I would love to hear your suggestions.**

**Please, them being related to writing, reading or Bones. :)**


	16. Turning Point

**Oh, never got so many "THANK GOD!" and "YAY!" reviews… poor Hannah… hahaha  
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**By the way, you probably noticed I changed my penname. I just remembered how much I crack up every time Brennan says that and how **_**I**_** usually say that to people while I'm driving. LOL**

**I hope it won't jinx my still intact skill…

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"Seeley..." Hannah said with a knot in her throat. One moment she is thrilled with the idea she's having a baby and the next her fiancé says he can't do that. "What are you trying to say?"

"You're an amazing woman, Hannah." He said sincerely. "You're beautiful, you're smart and you are really one of the kindest people I've ever met, but I can't marry you."

"W- what?" She felt like the words were stuck in her mouth. Was that a nightmare?

"You deserve a man who will love you more than anything in the world. A man who will wake up and go to sleep thinking of you and as much as I wanted to be that man and as much as I care and enjoy being with you, I am not that man and I can't promise you I'll ever be." Her eyes were filled with tears and Booth hated himself for having to do this. It somehow reminded him of what Brennan told him that night she left. But he knew Hannah would thank him one day. "Unfortunately, we are not on control of our hearts."

"I love you, Seeley." She whimpered. She couldn't let him go completely without being completely certain there were really no more chances for them. "I know we can be happy together."

"Maybe. Maybe not." He pursed his lips. "We can't enter a marriage without being sure about our feelings, Hannah."

"Why?" She demanded to know. She had a suspicious it had something to do with Dr. Brennan, but she needed to hear that from his own mouth.

"Seven years ago, I was a gambler. I was addicted to the games and would spend sleepless nights playing the pool or cards. One day, a body was found and even though I knew who the murderer was, I needed proofs to arrest him. Nothing the forensic team on the FBI found was enough to condemn judge Hasty and Cam suggested me to look for a great forensic anthropologist she met once. At first I didn't want to, I didn't want a partner, but I ended up giving in. I had to do everything I could to give that girl who was murdered a little justice, so I went to meet the anthropologist." Booth closed his eyes and leaned back on the couch, remembering again that afternoon he saw Brennan for the first time. "I was expecting her to be an old, cranky, annoying woman, but Bones was nothing like that. Different from anyone I've ever seen before, that's for sure." He let out a laugh. "But the moment I landed my eyes on her, I knew there was something bigger reserved for us."

Hannah was listening carefully to everything that Booth was saying. She knew where that was going, but interestingly enough, she was curious to hear about it. She always wondered what really happened between Dr. Brennan and Seeley Booth.

"We couldn't be more different from each other, but we got along pretty well at first. She flirted with me, I flirted with her. After drinking almost an entire bottle of tequila, we kissed." Booth continued. Hearing that was a stung in Hannah's chest, but she didn't interrupt him. "The next day she was very pissed at me, accusing me to get her drunk to fire her and then have sex with her, even though we didn't end up in bed that night." Booth didn't mention that that only didn't happen because Brennan stopped them and was, once again, being the rational one. Hannah didn't need to know that. "The case was solved, but we fought again and Bones left claiming she would never work with me again."

"But seemed like things didn't work the way she wanted. One year after, I needed her help again. I really enjoyed working with her and was never able to forget her." He sighed. "I planned a trap to catch her at the airport and after a lot of discussion and blackmail, she agreed to work with me. We've been working together ever since and for the following five years, Bones has been my best friend. In case you were wondering, we never talked about that kiss again nor did we try to get our relationship to another level. Well, at least, not until our stupid five-year-old shrink decided to publish a book about us and encourage me to open up to her about my feelings."

"_Your feelings_?" Hannah gulped. During all those months they were together, Booth never told her he loved her.

Booth bit his lips and nodded. He was being honest there.

"I told her we should give us a try and kissed her, but she rejected me." That still hurt him. "She said she couldn't change and she didn't have the kind of open heart that I do, whatever she meant with that. After that night, things started to get pretty awkward between us. Somehow, we were not comfortable around each other anymore. She started to date, I started to date, but none of that went much further. Things were so tense that Bones decided to accept an offer and went away to Indonesia."

"That's why you decided to come back to Afghanistan?" Hannah wanted to know.

Booth nodded again.

"Coincidentally, I got the offer at the same time." Booth said. "You asked me what made us fly away from each other and not exchange even one word during that year."

"Seeley… you don't have to tell me…" She said. Hannah wasn't sure if she wanted to know that reason anymore. What she'd heard was enough already.

"No, I have to." He looked right into her eyes. He needed to open up with someone. He had to make her understand that the problem wasn't her. That it wasn't her fault that he was such a stupid guy to fall in love with the wrong girl who didn't want his love. "Bones went to my house the night before I went to the base. I'll skip the details, but we ended up sleeping together." He felt sorry for telling things like that to Hannah, but she deserved to know the truth. "Bones suddenly told me I had to forget her and move on, that she couldn't be the one for me, that she didn't _want_ to be." Hannah noticed the pain in Booth's voice when he said that. She hated Dr. Brennan for making him feel that way. "I said fine, we could forget that night, but I asked her to not contact me while we were spending that time away. I needed to be alone and away from her to forget her."

"_She must be crazy…_" Hannah couldn't help saying. Which woman would reject a handsome guy who obviously loves her and would do anything for her?

"The first two months in the unit were terrible for me, you know that." Booth told her. "I really don't think I would have stayed the whole year if it wasn't for you. I don't regret a second we spent together, Hannah. I never felt as well as I was with you in a long time."

_Then why can't you love me instead of her?, _she wanted to yell, but controlled herself. She was afraid she would release the tears if she started to talk and after that happened, she wasn't sure if she would we able to stop. That was the man she loved, for God's sake, telling her he can't marry her because he is still in love with his stupid partner.

"When I asked you to marry me, I really meant that. I wanted that." He said. "But then… coming back here… to my old life… It's not fair to you."

Hannah just nodded her head. She wouldn't be one of those stupid women who beg for the love of a man when he already told her he loves another person. She was better than that and she was glad he was being sincere to her. She knew many men could be cheating her behind her back and still decide to marry her.

"That's not all…" Booth said embarrassed. If he was being honest, he had to say everything.

"Not all?" Hannah wanted to laugh. _What else could he probably say to make things even worse for her?_

"Tommy… that little boy you held today… he's my son." There. It was out.

"Your _son_?" Hannah cried. _Bingo! _Never, _never _wonder how things can get worse, because then they will always find a way to do that. "You have another son? Why didn't you tell me that before?"

Now she was angry. One thing was to hide about his love for his partner. Another completely different one was to hide a _child_.

"I just find out about him two days ago, I wasn't lying when I told you that!" Booth explained quickly. "I wanted to tell you the same night I find out, but when I got home, you were already asleep. The next day… well, I didn't think it would be fair to you to tell about him the same night you told me you were pregnant…"

"All this time… all this time you knew…" Hannah let some tears flow. "That's why you've been acting so weird lately."

"I'm sorry." He apologized sincerely. "This is not how I wanted things to end between us."

"No wonder Dr. Brennan was so pissed when she saw me carrying her baby." Hannah let out a sarcastic laugh. "I'm the woman taking her man away from her and her son."

"Wh- _no_! It has nothing to do with that. Bones made sure she doesn't want anything happening between us." Booth said confused.

"Oh, come on, Seeley, I'm not blind." Hannah rolled her eyes. "I can recognize a jealous woman when I see one."

"Bu-" He started saying but she cut him off.

"No. That's _my_ turn to talk." Hannah said, recovering her pride. She was raised to be a strong woman. She would let something like that break her. She would stand up her head and move on with her life. She was still 27. Her life was only beginning. "I really appreciate your honesty, Seeley. Obviously I'm shocked and far from happy, but I believe it's better if this ends now than after we get married and have children involved."

Booth pursed his lips ashamed.

"But as a friend and someone who cares about you, I should warn you to be careful. From what I can see, all this time you were the one running after her." Hannah said. Was she really giving advices to her fiancé- _ex fiancé_- about how to get another woman? _Damn, she should better get her free passage to heaven after that one. _"If you keep acting that way, things will never change between you. You should let _her_ do the running this time."

"_The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expect a different outcome." _

The sentence came back to his mind. Hannah was right. He couldn't be the old dog and come back crawling to her feet and begging for her forgiveness. He didn't do anything wrong all this time, after all. All he ever did was try to prove his love to her and get his heart broke in return. If there was someone wrong in this story, that someone was Brennan, who left him and hid his son.

_Things_ had _to change._

"You're right." He said in almost a whisper. "You're a great woman, Hannah. I wish I could love you the way you deserved to be loved."

"I know." She opened a sad smile. "I wish that as well. But things can't always be the way we want, can they?"

"Tell me about it…" He sighed. "You'll find a great man and you'll have your family someday. I know you will."

"Maybe… I don't know. Maybe I'll just keep traveling around the world working. Getting married and settling wasn't really in my plans until I met you. My parents, as very catholic people, always wanted that for me, but it was never really _my_ dream." She shrugged. She would move on.

"You deserve to be happy." He said sincerely. "No matter what you decide to do with your life."

"So do you." She smiled sadly and he pulled her on a hug.

"I'm sorry that things couldn't work out between us." He said. "I'll never forget all you did for me."

"Well… I guess it just wasn't meant to be." She said conformed. "Good luck with Dr. Brennan. Even if things don't work out for you romantically, I hope you get along well for the sake of your son. That's a pretty cute little boy."

"Thank you." He said looking at her eyes. _Bones, you better do the right thing this time, I'm throwing away the chance of marrying a great woman because of you…_

Hannah leaned down and kissed his cheek before standing up and heading to the bedroom. "I'll start packing."

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**I hope you didn't find this unrealistic, but in my opinion, Hannah is not the kind of woman who would throw a fit when a man breaks up with her. Well, at least, not **_**my **_**Hannah. A woman who goes to Afghanistan to work and who did all she did, won't let something like that breaks her.**

**And as much as I hate her for being with Booth, she was always a nice woman and didn't deserve a shitty end.**

**Well… but now we are back at two single partners…**

**And Booth will start his plan to make Brennan be the one to run after him this time…**

**What can I say?**

**LET THE FUN BEGIN! =D**


	17. Brother Bonding

**Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed. I know I say this almost every new chapter I post, but I'm really overwhelmed by the amazing response this story is getting. When I started it I had absolutely no idea where it was going, and you were totally the reason why I kept writing. So, really, **_**thank you**_** so much for the support. :)**

**I'm just sad that I can't please **_**all**_** of you. It's something impossible to do.**

**I know some of you think Booth should run after Brennan, because he should understand he should had given her time to think and realize she wanted him too, but was scared, in the 100th episode.**

**Others think Brennan should be the one running after him, because, hell, she was the one to turn him down.**

**I'll write this the way I think it would happen. I can see both sides and I'll try to make them work realistic.**

**Also, I want to thank my amazing unregistered readers, who always leave AMAZING reviews but I can't answer them because I don't know where to send a review reply: **_sara9b, horseninja, jsboneslover, Beth, cook, Robin, LondonLi, Emma, mynicholle, chymom, RK…_

**Especially **cook **and **Robin**, who always give suggestions and don't mind telling me what they liked and what they didn't like in the chapters. Hahaha**

**A curious thing that happened while I was writing this chapter: I spent last night taking care of my four-month old and ten years old cousins. LOL**

**So… this chapter is in homage to them. They were totally my inspiration. Although my ten year old cousin is a girl. But she's just as talkative and cute and smart as Parker, so, I based this in how I see her acting, that is how I think Parker would act. I hope you like it.**

**I really enjoyed writing this it. I hope you do as well. A little bit of cuteness and fluff to cheer your Saturday. :)**

**Now I'll stop rambling and let you read…

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"Where are we going today, Dad?" Parker asked Booth after he picked him up for their weekend together. The boy was wearing his best adventure outfit, from his boots to his cap, hoping he could convince his father to take him camping or something.

"We're going to Bones' place, bub." Booth told him, a smile showing on his face. He couldn't wait to see Parker's reaction when he found out he had a little brother. It'd been two days since he broke up with Hannah and he didn't met Brennan since then. There were no cases for them to work and he used that time to catch up with the paperwork that was still unfinished. He called her several times during those days to ask about Thomas, but the baby was the only thing they would talk about. Brennan still didn't have the slighted idea about his and Hannah's new situation.

"She's going out with us?" The boy was suddenly excited. He wouldn't mind if Bones went camping with them. She was smart and would explain to him about everything in the nature. He knew she had camped many times before because she had told him about her trips to exotic places like Guatemala and Egypt.

"Maybe, we can ask her." Booth said. It was a beautiful sunny Saturday morning. A walk in the park with his two boys wouldn't be bad. Actually, it would be almost like a dream. "But first we want you to meet someone."

"Meet someone?" Parker's brows furrowed. "Who?"

"It's a surprise." The older man smirked. "But it's someone _very_ special."

"Is it Spider-man?" Parker opened his mouth in an 'o', completely delighted with that idea.

"No, bub." Booth chuckled, amused by his little boy imagination. "It's not Spider-man."

"Oh…" He frowned. That would be super cool. "Then… is it the President? Bones told me she met the president several times."

"No, Parks, it's not the president either." Booth laughed. His boy was really a curious little thing. "But I promise you're going to be very happy. You'll like this person a lot more than you like Spider-man."

"_Really_?" Parker gave him a doubtful look. "Because I _really _like Spider-man, Dad. He can jump between buildings, and climb them without any special gadget and he's very , very strong and he saves a _lot_ of people."

"I'll telling you, buddy." Booth nudged him. "Just trust me, okay?"

"Okay…" Parker agreed. "Dad?"

"Hmm?" He said without taking the eyes of the road.

"You like Dr. Bones?" The boy asked a bit embarrassed.

"Yeah, I like her a lot, she's my partner and she's my friend." Booth said, taken by surprise by the sudden question. Parker also didn't know about his break up with Hannah.

"No… I don't mean it like that…" Parker shook his head 'no'. "I mean like '_like_'."

"What do you mean with 'like '_like_''?" Booth asked confused.

"You know my best friend, Liv…" He blushed. "Every time I see her, my heart goes _tun-tun, tun-tun, tun-tun._" He hit his chest mimicking the sound."And when she looks at me, I can't help feeling like smiling. She has the most beautiful smile." He sighed.

_Oh, his poor little boy. Ten years old and already in love. He had no idea how much he would suffer until he could get his girl. _If _he could. _Booth hoped he would have better luck than his old man.

"And I saw you looking at Dr. Bones with that same goofy face a lot of times. I know you date Hannah now, but you don't look at her the way you look at Bones." Parker pointed out, shooting his father a knowing gaze.

"Hannah and I are not together anymore, bub." Booth told the boy. There was no reason to keep that a secret from his son. It wasn't like Parker was head over heels with Hannah. He liked her, yes, but the boy's preference was never a secret.

"You're not?" He raised one eyebrow surprised.

"Uh-uh." Booth confirmed.

"Is it because Dr. Bones is the one who makes your heart goes _tun-tun, tun-tun_?" Parker repeated the movement against his chest.

How could the boy notice that? Was it _that _obvious how he felt about Brennan?

"Yes…" He admitted with a sad sigh. It was good to talk about that with someone, even if it was his ten year old son.

"And now Dr. Bones will be your girlfriend?" He asked and Booth noticed the sparkle on his eyes. _That boy is full of questions today, isn't he?_

"I don't know, Parker… I just broke up with Hannah. I'm not really thinking about it now." He said, suddenly a bit annoyed. "And Bones doesn't want to be in a relationship. She says she likes being alone."

"How can someone _like_ being alone?" The boy grimaced with that idea. "I call it bull, dad."

"Bull?" Booth chuckled.

"_Bullshit_, dad." Parker switched on his seat to look at his father. "No one likes being alone. It's _boring_."

"You think?" Booth looked at his son, now thinking about that.

"Yeah, I know that." Parker said like he was an expert in that subject. "And I've seen Dr. Bones staring at you with the same goofy face you look at her when she's not looking. I think she likes you too. I mean, like '_like_'."

"Maybe…" Booth said thoughtfully. He _knew_ Brennan felt something for him. She wouldn't act the way she did otherwise. If it was love, though, he had no idea. "I don't know, bub, Bones is not like the rest of the people we know. Just don't mention any of this to her okay?"

"Why not?" Parker wanted to know. Bones liked his father. His father liked Bones. The most obvious thing was for them to get together, right? _What was that method Bones once told him to solve things? Socromatic_ or something like that. Well, they should use that on themselves.

"Because Bones doesn't like talking about her feelings very much. We can't pressure her, we have to make her comfortable to talk about them _herself_ if we don't want to scare her away." Booth explained. He acted precipitated before. He learned the lesson. He wouldn't do that again. "You think you can do that?"

"Yeah, dad." The boy agreed with a shrug, although he didn't understand the reasoning on that. "Are we getting there? Because I'm _really_ curious to meet whoever you said I'm going to meet."

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Brennan had just finished dressing up Thomas when she heard the knock on the door. She looked at the clock. _9:30 am. _They were exactly on time.

A bit anxious and worried about Parker's reaction when he found out about his brother, Brennan left the baby in his crib and went to the door to get her guests.

"'Morning." Booth greeted her gleefully when she opened the door. He seemed incredibly happy that morning and Brennan was pretty sure it was mostly because of the blonde little boy standing next to him.

"Good morning, Booth." Brennan greeted him back. "_Isn't Hannah with you_?" She murmured so just Booth would listen.

"No, it's just me and Parker." He said, not providing more information.

She decided to not ask. It wasn't like she _wanted_ to know more about his fiancée. She was just glad she wasn't there.

"Hey, Bones!" Parker said just as excited as his father and Brennan bent down a little to hug the boy, who kissed her cheek.

"Hi, Parker. I feel very flattered to receive your visit today." She said sincerely.

"Dad told me you want me to meet someone." Parker went directly to the subject. It was very evil from his father's side to tell him about the especial someone and_ not_ tell him _who_ that someone was. "Who is it? Is it here yet?" He stretched up his neck and tried to peek behind Brennan's shoulder. "Dad said I'll like him or her more than I like Spider-man, but I think Spider-man is the best of the heroes so I find it _really_ hard to be true."

Brennan chuckled. "I hope you like him more than you like Spider-man."

"Him? So it's a guy?" Parker asked, getting even more curious.

"Why don't you just introduce them, Bones?" Booth winked to his partner. "Is he ready?"

"Yes, I just finished dressing him up when you arrived here." Brennan smiled. "I'll get him."

She disappeared inside the baby's bedroom and came out with a wide awaken Tommy shaking his chubby legs cheerfully in her arms.

Booth couldn't help cracking up when he saw the baby's outfit. He was wearing a pair of jeans and a white t-shirt with a red tie with yellow polka dots printed on it. "You bought him that t-shirt?"

"You demonstrated interest in buying him a tie the other day and I randomly found this shirt in a baby store. It seems to cover your wish and it is much safer than he wearing an actual tie." Brennan explained and looked at the baby. "And he looks pretty cute on it, doesn't he?"

"He really does." Booth smiled goofily looking from the baby to his mother, just the way Parker said he smiled awhile back in the car. Brennan was wearing a pair of jeans and a v-neck white shirt, her hair was pulled back in a ponytail and her face was washed up, no hints of make-up. _She looked so beautiful,_ he thought. So natural and young. The smile she had on her face every time she looked at their son made her even more stunning in his opinion.

"Who is that baby?" Parker asked confused. It seemed like the adults forgot he was also there.

"Parker, I want you to meet Thomas." Brennan told him, giving Booth a worried gaze. What if the boy didn't get that news very well? "He's my son."

"You had a son?" Parked said surprised. "But I saw you just a few days ago and you weren't fat nor did you look like you ate an entire watermelon. You looked just as thin as you always did."

The partners laughed.

"That's because I gave birth to him four months ago." Brennan explained.

"Oh." The boy looked at the baby, trying to understand what was happening. "He's very cute, Bones." He smiled.

"And there's something else, buddy." Booth bent down on his knees and whispered to his son. "_He's your brother_."

Brennan noticed that, if it was possible, Parker's eyes would pop out of his face.

"_My brother_?" He cried even more confused. "But-"He looked back and forth between Brennan and Booth. "But he's _Bones' _son."

"Yes… but he's my son too." Booth said.

"Why are you only telling me this now?" The boy sounded hurt. "And why do you have a baby with Bones if you were dating Hannah for so long?"

_Crap._

Booth wished his son wasn't so curious.

"It's a long story, bub." He sighed. "But Bones was in the Mapoolupoo Islands-"

"Maluku Islands, Booth,_ Maluku_." Brennan corrected him and he rolled his eyes at her.

"-and I was at Afghanistan. " He explained. "I just met him this week and Bones thought it would be better if you meet him today, since we could all be here together and all."

"Ok…" Parker knitted his brows. "But that doesn't explain why you had a son with Bones while dating Hannah. It's just not right."

Brennan bit her lips uncomfortable.

"Just because we had a son doesn't mean Bones and I are a couple, bub." Booth said avoiding his partner's eyes. "You know that. I was not dating your mom when you were born."

"So that's what you do? You decide to break up with them when they have your baby?" Parker looked at his father accusingly. "Because that's _not_ very nice, dad. I thought you wanted to get married before you had another kid. That's what you always told me when I asked you for a brother."

"_Wha_-" Booth couldn't believe in what the kid just said. _Like he_ chose_ to be in that situation! "_No!" He shouted, his face flushed. "You know what, why don't you just go there and meet your brother, hum? Wasn't it what you asked me to give you since you started talking?"

Somehow, that brought a smile to the boy's face and he looked at his brother.

"Yeah." He said. Realization hitting him, he approached Brennan and took Tommy's tiny little hand on his and shook it. "Hi, Thomas. I'm your big brother Parker." He said. "But you can call me Parks. You're still little, but when you grow up, I will teach you to play football. It's _cool _and that's what we guys do."

Brennan smiled at the scene.

"_Heya, Parks. And you can call me Tommy._" Booth said behind Brennan's back, changing his voice. "_I would love to learn how to play football; I've been told you learnt with the_ best_._"

"Booth, Parker knows you are the one talking, not the baby." Brennan looked at his partner as if he was crazy.

"Oh, come on, Bones, but I bet baby Tommy is thinking exactly that." He nudged her and waggled his brows.

"I don't think he's brain can process all that information yet, Booth." She told him.

"You grownups are _weird_." Parker looked at them like they were _both _crazy. The partners shared an embarrassed gaze and stopped arguing. "_Thank God you have me to keep you out of the crazyness, Tommy._" He whispered to the baby, who stretched out his tiny hand and grabbed his older brother's nose, letting out a squeal, making the other three people in the room laugh.

"Can I hold him?" Parker asked Brennan.

"Yeah, but you should sit. He's still very young and can't stand up by himself, so you have to be careful." Brennan said.

"Okay." Parker said quickly and jumped at the coach, reaching his arms out.

Brennan placed Tommy on Parker's lap. "Yeah, like this, hold his head."

Tommy didn't complain. He sat sucked his fingers and stared up at his brother, who couldn't be grinning wider.

"I make pretty handsome boys, don't you think?" Booth asked Brennan, feeling touched seeing his two sons together.

"You really do." She agreed, mirroring his smile.

"Hey, Bones." Parker took his eyes off the baby to look at Brennan. "Why don't you come with me and Dad to the park? We are playing football today. You and Tommy can watch and then we can go to the diner and have lunch and milkshake!"

"I- I don't know, Parker…" Brennan said unsure and looked at Booth as she was asking for help. "I don't want to spoil your day… and I don't think Hannah will like staying the whole day alone…"

"She won't care." Parker said right away. _Why would she care if she was not dating his father anymore? __Nonsense._

"She's spending the day with her sister." Booth said. It wasn't a lie. Hannah told him she would spend some days with her sister and niece before coming back to Afghanistan and finish her paper. "It would be really nice if you came with us."

He shot her his best charm smile and she looked at Parker, who shooting at her the _exact _same one.

She chuckled. _How could she resist them?_

"Okay, then." She agreed with a smile. "The weather is good and it will be nice for Tommy to take a stroll in the park." She looked at the three Booth's in front of her_. A quite beautiful sight, _she thought. "Can you look him while I pack his bag?"

"Sure, Bones." Booth nodded, happy with her agreement.

"So… was this better than meeting Spider-man?" He asked his son when Brennan left the living room.

"_Much better._" Parker grinned. "I don't think I can teach Spider-man how to play football…"

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**See?**

**Two updates in a row without cliffhangers!**

**Don't I deserve a review for being**_** that **_**nice? =D**

**PS: By the way, if you want to see what baby Tommy looks like to me, check my avatar! :)**


	18. Morning at the Park

**I'm sorry for updating later than usual… but I got bad news for you. Classes are back for me and I won't have as much free time to write as I had. =/**

**But I'll try to keep updating as often as I can.**

**By the way, I know I'm the _last_ person on this website who can complain about this at the moment, but I can't help noticing that even though I get new readers every chapter and more people add this to their story alerts, the number of reviews has been decreasing in the lastest chapters… Is it getting boring? Less exciting now that Hannah is gone? Please let me know…**

**This is another light hearted chapter and I liked a lot writing it. I hope you'll like reading too…

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Thankfully the park wasn't nearly as crowded as they were expecting it be to on a sunny Saturday of June. There were several families enjoying the weekend together, the laughter of the children could be heard everywhere and Brennan felt glad for accepting Booth and Parker's invitation.

Tommy was sitting comfortable on his stroller, his jeans were changed for shorts and a cap was protecting his face. He was wearing the tiniest pair of converses Booth had ever seen and he thought he'd never seen anything cuter.

Well, maybe except for the woman pushing the baby 's stroller. Booth realized he'd never seen Brennan so relaxed or that genuinely happy before. She was also wearing a cap and her own par of converses, so different from the well-put-together woman who has been working with him for the past couple of years. That fresh-and-comfortable-Brennan reminded him of those days back when they met for the first time.

"There! There! It's a great spot! It has a lot of space for us to play!" Parker pointed at a free spot between two trees.

"I think it's good, Booth, I can stay with Tommy under the shadows and watch you two play." Brennan said.

Booth placed a towel under the shadow of a tree and Brennan sat there, crossing her legs and putting Tommy on her lap. The little boy seemed to be loving the day out.

"Watch us, Bones, we are the_ best_ football players around!" Parker exclaimed and started running through the grass holding the ball close to his chest.

"You'll be okay there, Bones?" Booth asked before following his son.

"Of course, Booth. Tommy and I want to see if you are really as good as you as two like to claim." She smiled.

"Watch us, Bones, just watch us." He winked at her and gave her his best charm smile before running towards Parker.

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Brennan stared at the two Booths playing happily. Booth would throw Parker the ball and the little boy would run, trying to make a point before his father caught him. Sometimes Booth would let his son win, others he would grab the boy and turn him upside down, making Parker crack up laughing and scream _"Not fair! Not fair!"._ Now, more than ever, she knew she made the right choice telling Booth about Tommy and letting him be a part of his life. He was a great father and she smiled imagining her baby boy being a part of the game with his older brother and their father once he got a little bigger.

Tommy was sitting on her lap, appreciating the sight and the fresh air peacefully while sucking his fingers, which was practically an addition to him. No matter how much Brennan took his hands out of his mouth, they would be back there in the second the chubby arms were released.

Reaching out to get her bag, Brennan tried to fish the camera out of it with one free hand. Since Tommy was born, she'd always take the camera with her everywhere she'd go. She would never know when there would be a perfect moment to take a picture. And right now, seeing Booth and Parker playing and laughing, she really wanted to freeze that moment for eternity.

She took a few snaps of them and they didn't seem to notice it. Sometimes Booth would look at her and smile, others Parker would scream and ask her if she saw the great move he'd just made.

Brennan realized she hadn't felt that happy in a long time. Maybe because it was a pretty day, maybe because she was spending time with her favorite people in the world, but all she knew was that she didn't want that day to end.

After taking some pictures of Tommy, she felt the older Booths approaching her.

"That was pretty nice." She smirked at them.

"Told ya, Bones. We're_ great_." Booth elbowed his little boy and smiled proudly.

Brennan smiled at them and shook her head amused. Then, she passed a bottle of water for each one of them, who took them gratefully.

"Hey, Bones, why don't you go there and play with Dad?" Parker suggested and sat next to Tommy's stroller. He was tired. Booth, on the other hand, looked unaffected by the exercise. "I can watch Tommy."

Brennan glimpsed at Booth unsure.

"I- I don't know… I'm not very skilled in group activities…" She said, trying to get away from that.

"You're the smartest person around, Bones. You can learn anything. Dad can teach you. He was the one who taught me and you saw how good I am." Parker said proudly.

"The Booth's modesty…" She joked.

"Look who is talking about modesty…" Booth laughed. "_I'm a genius, best forensic anthropologist in the world, best-selling author…" _He teased her changing his voice.

"Those are all proven facts, Booth." Brennan said ignoring the sarcasm. "And I don't talk like that. If I did, I surely should go to an audiologist."

"Ok… now you come with me and we'll see if the forensic genius can catch a ball…" Booth took her hand and started pulling her to the place he had been playing with Parker. Brennan was so surprised by him taking her hand that she forgot to complain and try to give him reasons not to take her there.

His hands were warm and he didn't seem to feel awkward 'touching' her for the first time after more than one year and that confused her a little bit. _Why did she felt her stomach flipping by hand-holding?_

"Okay, Bones, so, we'll do like this. Since there are only two people here playing-" He pointed at himself then at her. "-and you don't know nothing about football, for starters, I'll throw the ball at you and then try to take it from you."

"Why would you throw it at me to try to take it back later?" She creased her forehead confused. "It makes no sense, Booth."

"_Because there are only two people here._" He repeated. "You can't let me take the ball, so, run, protect it…" He tried to think of a way to make it clearer for her. "Try to think of it as a skull… and that if I get it, I'll damage it before you can study it."

_Yep. That would work._ God knew how Brennan was possessive and overprotective with her precious remains.

"You know I would damage _you_ if you did such a thing…" She raised one eyebrow threatening.

"Pretend it's a skull… just _pretend_." He said carefully. "Okay?"

"I think I know the chains." Brennan nodded her head and ran so Booth could throw her the ball.

"Ropes, Bones, you know the _ropes_." Booth yelled so she could hear from where she was standing. "Ready?"

"Yes!" She yelled back and rested her hands on her knees.

When Booth threw the ball, she caught it perfectly, and a few seconds later, he was running towards her.

Brennan was a good runner, but she was at a completely disadvantage there. While Booth spent one year exercising and practicing with his rangers every day, she had to take a sabbatical from work out because of the pregnancy and then the baby, so it didn't take long for him to catch her.

Although, even if Brennan hadn't been able to take her daily runs since Thomas was born, it didn't mean she had lost her fighting ability. The moment Booth touched her to try to get the ball, she grabbed his arm and in a fast movement, the hunky agent was down on the ground, his partner holding him tightly against the grass, her face very close to his, a winning smile dancing on her face.

"_What the hell was that, Bones?__!_" He cried. "That was completely_ not_ in the rules! This is supposed to be football, not _karate_!"

"No one touches my remains, Booth, you should know that." She looked unimpressed.

"It's a damn _ball_!" He rolled his eyes.

"Besides, from what I saw, football can be quite aggressive." She added.

Booth took advantage of her lightness to speak and grabbed the ball from her hands.

"NO!" She cried when the ball was taken from her hand. "You can't do that!" She tried to take the ball back, but Booth was holding it firmly between both his hands, above his head. With only the thought of taking the ball back in her mind – it was a question of honor now – Brennan didn't realize she was leaning against his torso while trying to reach to get it.

"_That's not football, Tommy, but it's _pretty_ fun_." Parker murmured to his baby brother, an amused smile on his face. Watching his father and his partner together was almost like watching a TV show. There was comedy, and fighting, and romance and _oh, God, _a whole_ lot_ of drama. "_Bones and Dad are always fighting, but don't worry, it's never for _real_. And Dad says they don't fight, they bicker, but to me, it's the same."_

Booth gasped when he realized how close Brennan's face was to his. If he raised his head a little bit, he could touch her lips. It seemed to happen at the exact same time Brennan noticed the same thing and for a moment, it was like both of them froze in time, not knowing what to do.

"_Do you think they are gonna kiss?_" Parker asked Tommy excitedly and shoved a handful of snacks in his mouth. It was_ really_ like watching TV! "_I bet Dad is dying to kiss her. He told me today she's the one who makes his heart go tun-tun, tun-tun_." He told the baby, who was looking at him as if he was listening to every word carefully. _"And that was me mimicking the sound that the heart makes, because it's in the heart that love is and I know Dad loves Bones."_

Booth stared at Brennan, eyes locked and all he could think about was how much he wanted to kiss her.

_No._

_You can't do that right now, Seeley Booth. You're going to make everything go downhill. She has to be the one to take the first step this time. Stay strong! You can do it! It will be all worth in the end._

Pulling on all his strength, Booth swallowed and started releasing himself from her body, finally breaking their eye contact.

"_Ah_." Parker sighed disappointed. He was so sure there would be some kissing. He wanted to see how to do that so he could try with Liv. _Someday._

"You're right." Booth coughed, trying to forget what just happened. "Maybe you shouldn't practice collective sports."

"You're just saying that because you lost." She said cockily and stood up too, cleaning her the grass from her pants with her hands.

"_I lost?_ If I'm not blind,_ I'm_ the one holding the ball!" He bounced it between his hands.

"Just because you took advantage of the fact I wasn't expecting your movements, since I was talking, invalidates what you did." Brennan defended her point. "Because I got you down _way _before that."

"And _that_ wasn't taking advantage of unexpected movements?" He let out an ironic laugh.

Brennan was about to open her mouth again when they heard Parker yelling.

"_Bones! Dad! _I think Tommy pooped! It's stinking here and I think it's coming from him!" The little boy grimaced and pinched his nose trying to show them how much it was stinking. "Come here quickly and change it, please!"

"I'll get it." Brennan said.

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"Oh, look at that, _Bones _changing dirty diapers!" Booth joked.

"I don't know why you are so surprised, Booth, I've been taking care of him for four months now and a baby usually defecates daily." She said, putting the shorts back on Tommy, who was now smiling gleefully after being cleaned.

"_Ew_." Parker made a face.

"It's a natural thing, Parker." Brennan held up her baby boy and smacked his cheek. "All cleaned, Tommy."

"You can throw the dirty diaper in the garbage can over there." She handed the used diaper to Booth and pointed at the garbage can that was the closest to them. Booth took it and started walking towards the can. "Why don't you hold him so I can take a picture of you?" Brennan asked Parker, who accepted the offer right away.

He felt so grown up holding a baby. Brennan took the shot at the perfect moment, and the moment she saw the results of the picture, she knew it would be on her office table the next morning. Both the boys were smiling widely and she thought she'd never seen more gorgeous kids.

"Pictures! Great!" Booth said excitedly when he came back.

"Why don't you go there with the boys so I can take a picture of you with them?" Brennan suggested.

Booth nodded and sat down with his boys, almost thinking he was dreaming, being there with his sons and Brennan, the way he imagined them being for so, so long.

Brennan decided to take a few shots. They were too cute to take only one.

"Go there, I can take one of you all." A teenage girl said to Brennan after staring at the cute group for a while.

"Ah, I don't know, I'm really not really dressed for pictures…" Brennan looked down at her old jeans and shirt and remembered she didn't put make up on that morning. She wasn't a person that let vanity run her life, but she knew sometimes it was unnecessary to put yourself down looking at a not very flattering picture.

"Oh, please, Bones." Booth rolled his eyes amused. "You know you don't need to say those girly things to get compliments. You're beautiful, you know that. Now, come here!"

Brennan looked at him surprised. _Why was he saying those things?_

"Are you coming or not?" Booth said again when she didn't move. "The Booth boys want a picture with Bones." He pouted.

"It's true, Bones. It's been ages since I took a picture with you." Parker mimicked his father.

When she smiled her side smile, they knew they had won.

Brennan sat next to Parker and couldn't help feeling a bit uncomfortable. That was such a "family" thing to do. Spend the day at the park with the kids and having pictures made together.

"Awesome." The girl said after taking the picture. "You guys are such a cute family!"

"We are not-" Brennan started to say but stopped before finishing the sentence. _What were they?_ Now she and Booth were forever linked through their son.

"We are family, Bones." Parker took her hand, looked up at her and smiled. "Dad told me there are tons of kinds of family, and you're his best friend and my brother's mom, so we _are_ family."

Brennan looked at the little boy, thinking of everything they've been through together, that she'd watched the toddler grown into a handsome young boy, that his father knew more about her than anyone else in the world, and that he sometimes understood things about her that she herself still didn't.

At that moment, there was no Hannah in her mind.

"Yes." She smiled at Parker. "I guess we are."

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**Tired of the fluff? :) **

**I know absolutely nothing about football, so I hope I didn't write non-sense things about it in this chapter. I just typed the few things I know.**

**And let me say: this makes three updates without cliffhangers in a row. Ha.**

**Some people are asking me to get back with them, because they miss it… hahaha**

**So, if next chapter ends up with one, I don't want anyone complaining!**

**Oh, two Ps's:**

**1-After many, many time searching through the thousands of stories in this website, I decided to create a community with only the most reviewed AND complete stories. I know not always the best stories are the ones with the most reviews, but usually they are great. So, if you want, you can check the community link on my profile.**

**2-I also created a twitter profile. If anyone wants to follow, it's XcellentDriver.**

**And, of course, please, don't forget to review! =D**


	19. New Bachelor

**I would only update tomorrow, but then… I got so happy with everybody reviewing that I decided to update today. See, guys? Reviews make wonders to my imagination!**

**Keep leaving them and the updates will keep coming! =D**

**And I'm almost hitting 1,000! I can't believe it! THANK YOU SO MUCH!**

**I hope you'll enjoy this chapter!

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"Bones... you brought the baby to the FBI?" Booth asked surprised when he saw his partner entering his office pushing a baby stroller the next Monday morning. Saturday, when he drop her and Tommy off after having lunch at the Royal Diner, they decided it would be better to notify the FBI about their son soon, things might not get that nice if they found out about the baby by themselves.

But he was _not_ expecting Brennan to bring the child to the Hoover's Building.

"I thought that maybe if Hacker saw the baby, it would soften him a little bit." Brennan said a bit nervous. She was so afraid that the FBI could server their partnership now that they had a baby linking them in a relationship that would surpass their partnership. "Do you think he'll be able to say any bad thing to us when he sees Thomas?"

Booth looked at the little boy in the stroller, biting a toy and dressed in a very cute cobalt Tommy Hilfiger – the irony of the name, he bet it was Angela's gift – polo shirt and a pair of cargo pants. _No, of course not. How someone could say something mean in front of such a precious little thing?_

"No… but I don't know, Bones." Booth said unsure. "I don't think it will be good, I mean, the guy had a crush on you and you were dating just before you went to the Malupoopoo Islands."

"Maluku, Booth. _Ma-lu-ku_." She corrected him for the 100th time. She wondered if he said it that way on purpose. "And I don't think this should be a problem to Andrew, we only went out on a couple of dates, we didn't have intercourse, I told you I didn't feel attracted to him that way."

Booth gulped.

_Way to go, Bones. Glad to see the old-you back, but I really didn't miss the sex comments around me. _Especially_ after we did it one year ago._

_By the way, what's it with that outfit? Hacker doesn't _need _to see you in this short dress with that low-cut neckline..._

"Oh, you still feel uncomfortable talking about sex?" Brennan creased her forehead confused with Booth's reaction. "After I saw you being very active in the real act I thought it wouldn't be a problem for you anymore. You're very vigorous, Booth, you have nothing to be ashamed of. "

Brennan froze when she realized what she just said. They never talked about that night again. Well, they did, but they only mentioned the broken condom and that he asked her to not contact him, they didn't really talk about the act itself and the consequences of their weakness in relation to their feelings.

"I don't feel uncomfortable because I'm ashamed of something-" He felt the blood running up to his cheek. He had way better reasons to not talk about sex with her. _One of them was it being impossible for him not to come back to that bed and remember her lying completely naked on his torso_ _and how much he liked that feeling_. "Can we just_ not_ talk about that, Bones? _Please_?" He asked a bit annoyed.

"Oh, of course. I guess it isn't right, is it?" She bit her lip, feeling embarrassed. "Is Hannah good?"

"_Bones_!" He whimpered. _Would she ever leave him alone about that?_

"I- I'm sorry… I just wanted… you know…" _What the hell you're doing, Temperance Brennan?_ "You deserve someone who can keep up with your rhythm, I mean, you're a very strong and virile alpha male and-"

Booth tried hard not to smile. Temperance Brennan was rambling. _His Bones _was rambling. Because now the parts were switched, and _she _was the one uncomfortable.

_Booth 1 x Bones 0._

"Hannah and I are not together anymore, Bones." He decided to tell her. There was no reason to keep it a secret anymore. If he wanted Brennan to start seeing him differently and wonder about a life together, she would have to know that he was out on the market again. She wasn't the kind of woman to flirt with a guy that was already taken – even if _she_ was the one who owned his heart.

"_You're not_?" Her eyes doubled the size. "Is it because of Thomas?"

"Kind of." He admitted, not providing her more information.

"She didn't accept the fact that you already have two sons from two different mothers and out of the wedlock?" She asked, curiosity winning over her.

_Thanks for remembering me, Bones. I really appreciate that._

"No… I broke up with her before I told her about the baby." He admitted. Seeley Booth was not the kind of man to tell lies. Especially to his partner.

That surprised Brennan even more.

"_Why_?" She couldn't help asking. He seemed so into the whole wedding thing to call it off now, just like that, with no apparent reason.

"I don't know, Bones… there was just too much happening, it wasn't the right time to start a married life…" He said, not being able to tell her yet that he couldn't see him starting a family with another woman, or spending the day and night with anyone but her. That he didn't _want_ those things.

"But I thought you loved Hannah." Her voice came out in almost a whisper. It still hurt her that he said he loved his fiancée – _ex fiancée._

"Not nearly as much as I love my sons." _Or you._ But he didn't say that last part out loud. "I want to be participative in both of my kids' life. It didn't seem fair to Hannah to start a life with her when she would be like, third on my list of priorities."

_Fourth_, actually, but he couldn't say that out loud either.

"I- I'm sorry." Brennan didn't know what to say. But she couldn't fool herself saying that she wasn't glad with that new information. She was never really _that_ fond of Hannah. The woman was just so… _blonde_.

"It's fine." He shrugged. It surprised even Booth himself how fine he was with the whole situation. He felt lighter now. And free. "I guess it just wasn't meant to be."

He walked to the stroller to take the baby. He missed his little guy. He only talked with Brennan on the phone the previous morning, and he had been busy the whole day, so he didn't see the boy the day before. "Besides, I'm very glad to have this little guy in my life now."

"Me too." She agreed, smiling widely. "I know you didn't want to have another child this way, Booth, and you even tried to prevent it, but I have to admit that after I found out I was pregnant, I was glad your condom was ineffective."

Booth wouldn't admit to her that the condom probably failed because it was in his wallet for so long that it was certainly out of the due date. Also, even though that child was not planned at all, he felt incredibly happy when it really hit him that Brennan had had his baby.

"Do you regret that night?" She asked shyly, startling him a little bit. He wasn't expecting that question.

He took Tommy out of the stroller and held him in his arms, taking that as an excuse to think about an answer for that. The baby smiled when he saw his father's face.

"No." He said without a hint of a doubt, his lips turning up a little bit, his eyes not leaving Tommy's face. "If it didn't happen, we wouldn't be here drooling over our baby boy like we are at the moment."

"I don't regret it either." Brennan said, not daring to look at his face. _"And it isn't only because of Tommy…"_

She said it mostly to herself, but Booth heard every word perfectly.

"Dr. Brennan! Agent Booth! I'm so happy to see you guys back here!" Dr. Sweets entered the office, saving Brennan from explaining what she just said. His favorite patients – although he wouldn't admit it to them, their ego was way too big already – had been back for a week now, but he still hadn't had the chance to meet them yet. "Wait. Who's that baby?" He asked when he saw the boy in Booth's arms.

"Hey ya, Sweets." Booth greeted him as if they just met the previous night to watch a game on TV and drink beer. "This cute little thing here is Mr. Thomas." He grinned at his little boy and took his hand, waving it at Sweets. _"Hi, Uncle Lance! Dad told me we should schedule a play date sometime, since we're almost the same age and all!"_

"Booth, you should really stop pretending to be the baby talking, it's stupid." Brennan rolled her eyes.

"_Dad_?" Sweets looked back and forth between the partners, wondering what happened in that year they've spent apart. "Guys, what's happening in here?"

"Thomas is our son." Brennan informed him without any previous warn.

Sweets thanked God for being only 26 and having a perfect health, because otherwise, he thought he could have a heart attack at that moment.

"Wha-" He couldn't find the words to say anything. _"Did Dr. Brennan proceed with the fertilization?"_

"No." She shook her head 'no', not helping feeling amused with the psychologist's shock."It would be very unintelligent to make an in vitro fertilization when I knew I would be spending the following year in an Island without proper medical care, Sweets, and you know I'm quite smart."

"But…" Sweets looked at Booth, who was portraying a grin on his face, obviously loving the younger man's confusion. "How- when?"

"I guess I'm not allowed to explain to you how babies are made, Sweets." Booth teased. Man, he missed that. _Who would imagine he would miss the baby duck…_"Maybe in about ten years or so…"

"You shouldn't be making jokes about this, Agent Booth. It's a quite serious situation." He sat down at the armchair at the edge of the room and exhaled heavily. "This will bring drastic changes to your and Dr. Brennan's relationship…" Sweets shook his head. That would bring him a lot of headaches, he could see that already. "Wait- are- are you two together?"

Nothing seemed different in the partners' reaction. They were acting just like the way they always did.

"No." They answered at the same time, looking uncomfortable for the first time since Sweets arrived.

"But if you guys had sex, something had to happen between you two…" Sweets looked at them, feeling suddenly very confident. "Did the dam break?"

"Sweets, we are not on a session at the moment and to tell you the truth, we have a meeting right now with Hacker." Booth said quickly, desperate to change the subject.

"Oh, Booth! We can leave Tommy under Sweets' care since you said it's better if we don't take him to the meeting." Brennan suggested.

"_What?_" The psychologist whined. "_No_! I've never-"

"Great idea, Bones." Booth looked at his partner and smiled conspiratorially. "Hold him, Sweets, we'll just take twenty minutes. _He's a very nice kid_." He patted Sweets on the shoulder and handed the baby to him, who took the boy lubberly.

"But-" He tried to say.

"His diapers are on the baby bag." Brennan said, walking towards the door.

"Call us if you need anything." Booth followed her.

"Guys! Wait!" He tried to change their minds. "I'm an only child, I've never taken care of a baby before!"

"_You're a prodigy child, Sweets. You'll learn quickly._" And that was the last thing Booth said before leaving.

Sweets grimaced and looked down at the boy in his arms, who looked back at him and opened his patented toothless smile.

"Your parents… they'll drive me crazy one of these days." He told the child and sighed melancholically. "What do I do now? Do you like songs?" He looked at Tommy. "Yeah, babies like songs… I can sing… I'm pretty good at singing _Lime in the Coconut_… do you wanna hear it?"

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**I deserve a review for updating two days in a row, don't I? *bats eyelashes***

**Yep, because I think I do, you know, for taking the time out of school and all... *inserts drama voice***

**;)**

**Have I already said how much I love Sweets? I really hope we'll see him finally singing Lime in the Coconut one day!**


	20. Partners United

**Oh, God! I do have the best readers ever!**

**I can't believe this story has already over 1,000 reviews!**

**THANK YOU!**

**THANK YOU! **

**THANK YOU!**

**I never, ever, thought a story of mine would get that much popularity.**

**I'm so glad everyone enjoyed last chapter and liked Sweets with Tommy. Hahaha There'll be a little more of it in this chapter - it's so fun to write it… I hope you'll like it as well.**

**I'm sorry I couldn't reply to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, but my friends came to my house on Friday and we didn't stop even for a minute during the weekend, so right when I had time, I thought you'd rather get a new chapter to read then a reply. But I read them all and you have no idea how important they are to me. :)

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"Do you think Tommy will be alright with him?" Brennan asked concerned once they were out of the office. She wasn't sure about the idea of leaving her baby boy with the young psychologist.

"Yeah, maybe the baby will get a little paranoid after spending that much time with Sweets, but nothing he won't forget in a day or so. And I heard we just remember things that happened after we were three, so he'll be fine." Booth joked and turned his head to look at his partner. "Hey, Bones, he'll be alright. I was just kidding. The meeting won't take more than half an hour and Sweets may have just left his diapers, but he is not irresponsible."

"You're right." She agreed, her voice showing that she wasn't that sure about it, though. But she didn't want to be one of those freak mothers who think they are the only ones who can take care of their child.

"Ready?" He asked when they stopped at Hacker's door and she nodded her head.

"Temperance! What a pleasure it is to see you again!" Hacker smiled so widely at Brennan that it made Booth cringe. He completely ignored the agent's presence at the first moment. "I can see those months in Indonesia made _wonders_ to you. You look amazing." He eyed her up and down, looking like he was really appreciating what he was seeing.

_Keep your eyes, up, jerk! _Booth clenched his fist. _Didn't the man have any respect?_ He knew Brennan's dress was a little _way_ too sexy for a social meeting and he couldn't help also noticing that her breast got bigger because of the breastfeeding, but a nice guy would be able to keep his eyes at decent places. Like her face.

But not her eyes… her eyes were way too precious to look at bubblehead Hacker.

"Thank you, Andrew, it's nice to see you too." She smiled awkwardly. Brennan didn't like to feel objectified.

_No, Bones, don't_ _encourage him!_

"Hacker." Booth decided to step in. He wouldn't bear seeing that guy trying for the 100th time to seduce his Bones. _Can't you see it, buddy? She_ doesn't_ want you!_

"Hi, Booth." He turned his head to look at his subordinate. The greeting wasn't even a fraction of the gleeful welcoming he had given Brennan. "I wonder why you two schedule this meeting with me." Hacker was honestly surprised by their request for a meeting. Booth and Brennan tried the most to not have to go to things like that.

"We have something important to tell you." Booth pulled the seat for Brennan to sit and then sat on the one placed next to her and in front of Hacker.

"I'll all ears." Hacker leaned back on his fancy chair and folded his arms on his chest, a grin on his face while looking at Brennan.

_Let's just see how long that smile will stay there when you hear what we have to tell you…_

"I had a baby." Brennan said bluntly.

Booth tried very, very hard to not burst into laughter at Hacker's face when he processed the information Brennan had just provided.

"Don't worry, sir, it's not yours." Booth smirked and leaned back on his seat, a winning smile on his face.

"Of course it's not his baby, Booth. I've told you Hacker and I did not engage in sexual intercourse." Brennan told her partner frustrated. "How many times will I have to tell you that?"

For once, Booth didn't mind Brennan talking openly about her sexual life. Not only because he witnessed his boss' boss' boss getting super embarrassed with the comment, but because it also meant Hacker didn't take his partner to bed – because _she_ didn't want it, obviously - and well, _he_ did.

_And_ he knocked her up. Using a condom – never mind it was out of the due date, it was_ still_ a condom – and with only _one_ night.

One single night.

_Yep. He was just _that_ good._

_Take that, _bubblehead_!_

"Booth, why are you smiling?" Brennan narrowed her eyes at her partner.

"Uh, nothing." Booth cleared his throat. "You were saying?"

"Temperance just said she had a baby." Hacker said, recovering from the shock. "I'm curious to know why you thought this was a reason to schedule a meeting. Not that I'm not happy for you, Temperance, I remember you shared with me your thoughts of wanting to have an offspring in the future-"

_She did what?_

"But you could have told me in an informal occasion or through e-mail." He continued.

"Thomas is Booth's son, Andrew." Brennan said, her voice not showing any emotion at all. "I believe there's a rule in the FBI that makes agents and in consequence their consultants to inform their superiors when events like a child's birth happen."

Andrew dropped the pencil he was playing with in his hands and his mouth hang opened.

Again, Booth had to hold back a smile. Hacker looked even more stupid when he had his face like that.

Booth had to admire that woman. He knew she was scared to death in the inside, _damn, that man could server their partnership_, but she didn't let any of those worries hit her. What she had in there was a wonderful asset.

"I guess this shouldn't be a surprise." Hacker swallowed and opened a fake smile. "It's not like we here at the FBI never noticed what was going on between you two, but I believed when you told me you were just partners."

"We were." Brennan assured him. Then she noticed how that might have sound and corrected quickly. "We are."

"I'm sorry, Temperance, but _'just partners'_ don't have a child together." Hacker let out an ironic laugh.

"We were flying to different places in the world and it just happened… one night." Brennan said, trying not to blush. "But we are not together. We're just two friends with a child. Nothing changed between us."

_Well, that's not really the truth, Bones, but okay._

"You know the FBI doesn't encourage romantic relationships between partners." Hacker said a little bitterly.

_Asshole. Don't act like that, she was never _yours._ Never. I got Bones, much, much before you even met her._

"As Bones just informed you, we are not involved romantically in any way, sir." Booth said seriously. "And even if we were, you can check the work we've done in this week we are back and you'll see that we are as sharp as ever. We've sent two creeps to jail in five days. That's more than most of your employees does in a month."

He was getting angry. If that doofus did anything to try to damage their partnership, he would shoot him right between the eyes. He was really looking for a reason to do so. Hacker had already glanced at Brennan's breast _four_ times.

Booth's nostrils flared.

_That made a fifth._

"And I would like to notify that if the FBI servers my partnership with Booth just because we have a child together, I'll be done with my work in here." Brennan added.

"What? But your work has incredible value here!" Hacker suddenly stood up.

"Yes, I'm well aware of that. And so does Booth's work. We're the best you have, and we work well together. I don't have any intention to work with anyone else." She said. "As you might know, money is not an issue for me and now that I have a son, quitting my job with the FBI wouldn't be a bad idea. But I love what I do and would be really upset if I had to leave it because of something so uncalled for."

Hacker looked at Brennan and then at Booth thoughtfully.

"Alright." He sighed, recognizing he had lost the case in there. He couldn't lose two of his best employees. "But if we think it interferes with your work in any way, you're going to be split up."

"Your terms are satisfactory." Brennan nodded, thinking about it. She knew that wouldn't happen. She was_ great_ at compartmentalizing.

"Thank you, sir." Booth agreed, although he didn't feel like thanking him at all. _That asshole._

"And… congratulations… for the baby."

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"It wasn't that hard." Brennan commented after they left the assistant-director's office.

"Yeah, your low-cut neckline probably helped with his decision." Booth said sarcastically. "Good choice with the outfit, Bones."

"Thank you." She said obliviously. "But I don't know what you meant saying it helped with Andrew's decision." She furrowed her brows.

"Come on, Bones, the man was eating you alive with his eyes." Booth rolled his eyes. "Even Tommy would have noticed that."

Brennan filled her glass with water while Booth got himself a cup of coffee.

"I didn't feel any disrespectful behavior from Andrew's part, but you're better than me at reading people." She took a sip of her water. "By the way, my dad met Tommy yesterday."

Booth spilled coffee all over his shirt. "_He did what?_"

"Met Tommy." Brennan looked at him confused. She had told him she would tell her father about the baby soon. "He was quite upset that I didn't tell him about my pregnancy and took four months to present him to his grandson, but he seemed very happy to be a grandfather."

"_Bones!_" Booth whined and threw his hands up in the air. "You can't just do things like that without warning me beforehand!"

"I told you I would talk to my father about Tommy soon, Booth." She creased her forehead.

"Yes, but couldn't you have warned me _when _that 'soon' would be? Gee, I could have been murdered on my way here!"

"Booth, my dad is not going to kill you!" Brennan said unbelievably.

"Oh, right. Did you see what he'd done to the people who tried to do something to you, Bones, uh?" His voice was one octave higher. "I'm definitely on the top of his 'wanted' list now that he learnt I knocked you up and didn't marry you."

"I explained the whole situation to him. He wasn't thrilled about it, yes, but he understood." She said. "Booth, can you please stop shaking? You didn't use to be such a turkey like that."

"Chicken, Bones, you mean chicken." Booth sighed. "And I'm not shaking, I'm just trying to find a way to not get killed before talking to him."

"He indeed said he intends to have a talk with you." Brennan remembered.

_Oh, great._

"See? He'll kill me, Bones! I'm telling you." Booth sat on the chair and exhaled conformed. "Next week it will be my body the one you'll be looking at on that freaky autopsy table at the Jeffersonian."

"Booth, stop with the ridiculous talk." Brennan was getting annoyed. "My dad actually likes you quite a lot, you know that."

Max Kennan once have told him to take care if his girl. He wasn't sure the man would be happy after he found out that same guy got his daughter pregnant. Booth was pretty sure when he asked him to 'take care of her'; he didn't mean it in any sexual way.

"Of course…" He whimpered. "He'll get me stuffed and will hang me on his wall." He sighed. "Man, I'm really dead."

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"_She put the lime in the coconut, and drank them both up. She put the lime in the coconut, and drank them both up. She put the lime in the coconut, called the doctor, woke him up, and said, "Doctor, ain't there nothin' I can take, I say, Doctor, to relieve this belly ache?" I say "Doctor, ain't there nothin' I can take"I say, "Doctor, to relieve this belly ache"?" _

Booth and Brennan stared at the psychologist singing from the door frame, not believing in their eyes. Sweets had taken his suit off and was dancing and singing at Tommy, who was smiling amused sitting on his stroller.

"Sweets, don't torture my poor kid." Booth teased, deciding to interrupt the show, even if it was hilarious.

"Hey, you are back, finally." The young man had a desperate look on his face. "I was singing to distract him. And he was totally liking, okay?" He added quickly and pointed at the baby.

"Tommy enjoys audio and visual distractions." Brennan agreed. "You made a good job taking care of him, Dr. Sweets. Thank you."

"You're welcome, Dr. Brennan, even though I would appreciate if you guys had given me a little more time to prepare myself before throwing the kid at me." He frowned.

"Sweets, what's that yellow stain on your shirt?" Booth hold back a smile when he noticed the spot on his shirt. He knew pretty well what that was.

"Mr. Thomas was crying and I decided to check his diapers." The psychologist said and looked down shyly. "And once I was trying to change them, he decided to pee." He pursed his lips. "And you know… the little thing was aiming at me."

"Oh, I should have warned you about that." Brennan bit her lip embarrassed. "I'm sorry, Sweets, but he doesn't have control of his urinary canal yet."

"It's okay, Dr. Brennan, I have a spare shirt at my office." Sweets said. "I gotta go now."

"Thank you for watching him for us." Booth said sincerely. "Really."

Sweets shot them a smile and left the office. He didn't mind taking care of the boy. In fact, it was quite nice that his patients finally took a step up on their relationship. It was not how it was supposed to happen, but he still had faith those two would get together for real one day.

Booth lifted his son and grinned at him.

"You peed on Sweets?" He asked and Tommy smiled back at his father. "_That's my boy!_"

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**I don't know about you, but I can totally see Sweets dancing in my head and singing **_**Lime in the Coconut**_**, and it's quite funny. Especially if he's wearing one of his "16-year-old" shorts. ****LOL**

**Don't forget to review! =D**


	21. The Right Guy for my Girl

**Hi there my beloved readers! =D**

**I'm so glad you are enjoying the light chapter with a bit of humor after all the angst. It makes me really happy because I usually think I can't write humor. Haha So, when you told me you laughed, that made me really happy.**

**Although, I can't help noticing the review numbers are decreasing again. :(**

**I know you want to shout at me "come on, you already got 1,000 of them!" and believe me, that really makes me almost explode out of happiness, but the sudden decrease makes me think people are not enjoying the story anymore. Now less than 10% of the people who has this on their story alert are reviewing, so it really makes me wonder… =/**

**Anyway, I promise interesting stuff is about to happen in the next chapters, but a few fillers are necessary for the story to make sense. Things just can't happen out of the blue, I like feeling that it could happen in reality, and I really don't see people forgiving and admitting love after hours or a couple of days.**

**And here I stop rambling and let you read the chapter! :)**

**Oh, by the way, those of you who read "The Partners in Denial" – yes, that other story of mine that you though I had forgotten (I didn't) -, it was updated yesterday!

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_._

_Two weeks after…_

_._

"My father asked you to take Tommy with you to your meeting? Why?" Brennan asked surprised with that information. Why would her father want Booth to bring the baby to their man-to-man talk?

"I don't know, Bones, maybe he misses his grandson, I don't know… and you know what? I don't care. I don't think your old man is going to try to do anything with me in the presence of a little boy." Booth answered. He was anxious about the meeting and he didn't try to hide his feeling about it. He had called Max Kennan the week before and they agreed to meet that Sunday, when both of them would be available. Knowing that the man had the intention to meet him and talk made Booth feel a little relieved, though. It wasn't like he would be murdered for, at least, the following two weeks. He doubt Max would want to talk to a dead man.

"Booth, how many times do I have to tell you my dad has no intentions to kill you?" Brennan exhaled heavily. That was starting to annoy her. She didn't like seeing Booth fearing something, especially someone so harmless – she thought – as her father. "Your fear is completely irrational."

"My fear is completely understandable, okay, Bones? I'm the man who sent him to jail and who got his little girl pregnant when he asked me to take _care _of her." Booth said annoyed.

"I'm not a little girl." Brennan furrowed her brows. "And I don't need to be taken care of."

"You'll always be a baby to him, Bones." Booth couldn't help smiling. She looked even more like a little girl when she acted like that. Not to tell he wanted to pinch her cheeks and kiss her lips when she pouted like that. "Now, you should let me go. I don't want to leave your dad waiting and give him more reasons to exterminate me."

"Fine, but don't stay there for too long. Tommy will start crying in a matter of about two and a half hours and he doesn't stop until he gets what he wants, which is my breast." Brennan informed him. She could see Booth blushing a little at the mention of her breast._ Would that man ever stop being embarrassed by those things?_

Well, she didn't care. He actually looked quite cute when he was embarrassed, like a twelve year old boy. Not that she would admit that to anyone.

"Noted." Booth said quickly and put the baby on the stroller.

"The diapers are on the baby bag. Please, be careful with him, Booth." She said a little worried.

"Bones, this is my second baby. I can deal with his needs, trust me." He assured her.

"Okay…" She nodded.

"Are you ready for a stroll with your old man, buddy?" Booth asked the baby softly and the little boy answered with a loud squeal and moving his legs quickly. It would be the first time he would hang out alone with his son and he was thrilled with the idea. Yes, it would be more pleasant if he didn't have to meet a probably furious Max Keenan, but it was still very nice. "I guess that is a yes."

Brennan smiled looking at the boys' interaction. Booth was really a good father and Tommy obviously adored him. Well, _who wouldn't?_

"What?" Booth asked when he realized she was staring at him and took her out of her reverie.

"Nothing." She kept smiling. "You just look quite cute all dad-like like that."

"Thanks, Bones." He opened that charm smile of his he reserved just for her and they held their gazes for a little while. "You look quite adorable when you get all mommy-like too. _Especially when you sing to him_…"

"You heard that?" Her cheeks turned bright pink. She never thought there was someone watching while she was trying to put the baby to sleep.

"Yep." He smiled. He loved seeing her put down all her barriers and just enjoy her time with her baby boy. Could she be any cuter? "You're a great singer, Bones. Tommy is lucky to have you as a mom… imagine if you were like, Daisy… the kid would probably beg for earplugs."

"That's not a very nice thing to say, Booth." Brennan tried not to laugh. Daisy had indeed a pretty irritating voice. "Ms. Wicks was quite helpful in the Maluku Islands, especially when I wasn't feeling very well and needed a rest."

"Well, that doesn't mean she's a good singer." He shrugged and checked his watch. He had to be at the diner in fifteen minutes. "_Shit._ I gotta go!"

"Booth! Don't curse in front of the baby!" Brennan reprehended him.

"Bye, Bones." He ignored her and started pushing the stroller out of the door. "Hope to see you later, if I don't come back, please, tell my boys their father loved them."

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"Hi, Max." Booth greeted the older man when he arrived at the diner. "I'm sorry for being late, but the little guy here decided to do number two and I had to change him before coming to the diner."

"Don't worry, Booth, I've had two kids myself, I know how those things are." Max said extremely gleeful in Booth's opinion. He was expecting to see the man with a mask and a chainsaw in his hands. "Get a seat. I hope you didn't have lunch yet, because I'm starving."

Even if he did, Booth would have lied he that he didn't. In _hell_ he would disagree with anything that man said. He praised his balls. He still wanted to have more kids in the future.

"No, I didn't eat yet. The diner has a great steak with fries." Booth gulped._ Damn,_ he wished he wasn't that nervous.

"You don't have to look so frightened, son, I won't kill you." Max said amused.

"_What?_" Booth cried. "I'm not frightened… why would I be?"

"Maybe because you got my daughter pregnant?" Max smirked, loving to see the hunky agent scared about him. "You don't need to worry, I know the daughter I have."

He turned to look at the boy sitting at the stroller and smiled wider.

"You guys made a handsome little boy." He said and let the baby grab his finger.

"Thanks." Booth smiled proudly and relaxed a little bit.

"Did you miss your grandpa, kiddo?" Max asked Tommy. "Because I missed you."

"It was not my choice you know…" Booth started saying before he could think about it. "I didn't know she had a baby until about a month ago."

"I know." Max looked up at him. "And I'm sure the fact that you are not together is also not _your _choice."

Booth looked at Brennan's father surprised. _How could he know so much?_

"Don't look at me like that, Booth, I might be old but I'm not blind." Max chuckled. "I knew you were in love with my daughter the moment I saw you with her that first time when I was disguised as a priest. I just proved my theory when you showed up at the church with that ridiculous car and instead of trying to arrest me, you went to comfort her."

"I couldn't do that with her… not when she had just met you after fifteen years…" Booth said in a whisper.

"I know, and I hate that I put her through so much pain and the last thing I would done was hurt her now that she's finally finding some happiness in her life." Max said. "You're a good man, Booth, I know you would do anything for my daughter. You almost gave your life to save hers. I couldn't ask for anyone better to be with my girl." He tapped the man in front of him lightly on the shoulders. "I know Tempe usually chooses the wrong guys."

_Oh, that she_ really_ did._

"She doesn't want me, Max." Booth sighed sadly. It would be useless to try to argue with Max about the fact he loved Bones and wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. "She decided to leave me… twice."

"She's scared." Max said simply. "And I guess most of that is my fault, and I really apologize for that."

Booth looked at him with questioning eyes.

"When Ruth and I left the kids for their security, Tempe had to learn the hard way that loving someone is never always flowers, rainbows and little hearts popping out your head like in the cartoons. She figured out it only brought pain. We were the people she loved and trusted the most and we abandoned her." Max said guiltily. "She loves you more than she loved anyone in this world, you know that."

Booth gulped. _He knew?_

"I don't know…" He murmured. He wanted so much that to be true, but he honestly didn't know if Brennan loved him _that _way.

"She does. And she's scared she's going to lose you if she accepts your love." Max said wisely.

"I would never abandon Bones." Booth said right away.

"I know that, and she probably knows that deep inside." He said. "But she's scared and you have to give her time…"

"Seven years…" Booth sighed frustrated. _Goddammit, he was tired of waiting!_

"It might be seven years since you first met, but I don't think you got her trust and her heart right away, son. I imagine the reason she flew away to Indonesia had something to do with you and you opening your heart to her." He glimpsed at his grandson. "So does this baby." He grinned mischievously and Booth blushed. "She didn't have time to think about it all. Give her time, she'll come around."

"How do you know she will?" He asked.

"Because I know someone just like her." Max smiled.

"Who?"

"Me." He sighed. "Tempe got a lot of her personality from me. The love for science, the super rational brain and, unfortunately, the idea that loving someone might not always be the greatest thing. When I first met Ruth, man, that woman drove me insane. She was completely my polar opposite and hit me on the nerves and the fact that I couldn't stop thinking about her the whole day just annoyed me even more. I would never admit to anyone that I, Max Keenan, was in love with someone, especially someone _so _irritating." He grinned at the thought of his late wife.

"I guess Bones took a lot after her too, then…" Booth commented and Max chuckled.

"But then, I realized my life with her would be much better than my life without her, that I loved our bickering and her passionate heart. She completed me. And when I finally noticed that, I grabbed her and never let her go."

"Do you think Bones will notice we complete each other?" Booth asked hopefully.

"I think she already does." Max nodded. "Just give her time to feel the courage to admit that to herself and then to you."

"You think?" Booth raised his eyebrow.

"Yeah, she had your kid, son." Max chuckled. "If you know Tempe, you know she never does things without thinking about it first. She would never get pregnant with your baby if she didn't want to."

"The condom broke." Booth didn't know why he was sharing that piece of information with Bones' father, but it was out of his mouth before he could stop it.

"And she wasn't taking anything for birth control." Max smiled. "She would never let such a thing happen with anyone else. She would make sure to protect herself, she always knew she had to take care of herself if she didn't want to cry later for the consequences. But she trusts you. And you've seen her with this kid, she adores him."

It was true. He could see Brennan's eyes sparkling every time she looked at their son.

"You made her enter something she never intended to: motherhood. You changed her and you changed her for the better." Max reminded him and took his hand on his, like in a peace agreement. After all, Brennan was the most important woman in their lives and both would do everything in their power to keep her safe. "She loves you, Booth. Don't give up on her yet."

"I won't."

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**Hmmm… what comes next?**


	22. Invitation

**Oh my God, anyone else also freaking out with the load of spoiler, pictures, sides, promo… we are getting this week?**

**INSANE!**

**And great! And it's less than a month till Bones returns! *does Chandler's happy dance***

**Oh, by the way, I don't know exactly how long this story will be, but I intend to finish it before the season premiere. I think it will have around 30 chapters. Let's see…

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_._

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_Four months later..._

_._

It was almost nine pm and Brennan was taking advantage of the silence in the lab to work on her new book. It was the first book she was writing after the whole trip to Indonesia and then the baby, so, she was very excited about it. During the past couple of months, a lot of ideas had been popping up in her head.

The only sound in the room was her son's babbling while he played with the toys on his rubberized carpet on the floor. Her little boy was growing so fast and was already crawling everywhere. Looking at him, she realized he wouldn't take much longer for him to start walking. She started walking when she was nine-months-old.

Booth entered the lab looking for her. He couldn't wait to show her what he had in his hands. When she didn't answer her cell phone or her home's phone, he realized she had to be at her office in the lab. And he was right, it didn't take long for him to see her behind her office desk after he arrived at the Jeffersonian.

Brennan was typing but was interrupted by Tommy, who was making one of his little noises to get her attention. If it was anyone else, Temperance Brennan would have given the person a reprehensive look. People knew better than bother her while she was working. If it was one of her interns, he or she would probably leave asking for a resignation. But it was her son, and instead of a frown, her face softened up with a smile and her eyes sparkled when she looked at the little boy holding up a colorful ball.

"Oh." The baby babbled and looked at the ball and then at his mother.

"Yes, Tommy, that's a ball." She told him softly. "Ball. B-a-l-l. Ball."

Booth chuckled. Only Bones would spell the words to an eight-month old baby.

"I don't think he's old enough to understand how the words are spelled, Bones." He told her leaning on her door frame. He'd been there observing the duo for about ten minutes.

"Booth… I didn't see you were there." She said surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"I tried your cell phone and your house but you didn't answer, so I thought you had to be here." He entered the office. "And I was right."

Things had been getting better between them in the past four months and their relationship was very close to what it was before the whole _'let's give us a try'_ followed by the _'let's have sex' _thing. Booth had taken Max's advice and was letting Brennan go on her own speed. They would meet every day and have dinner together almost every night. He still didn't spend a night alone with his son, he didn't have the courage to do that with Brennan, even though the baby was now taking the formula and rarely being breastfed. He could see the scare at her eyes every time he mentioned something about spending the whole day alone with the baby.

Yes, maybe it was a little selfish of her, but he understood. It was probably harder for the mothers to be away from their children at the beginning than it was to the fathers, after all, they spent nine months literally attached to their babies.

But he didn't mind. Seeing the baby at her house was an excuse to see_ her_ every day. And it wasn't like Brennan didn't let him see his son. _Au contraire_, she kept very true to her words and Booth was allowed to see his son whenever and for how long he wanted.

"Bones, don't you think it's dangerous to leave Tommy wandering around your office?" Booth said, knitting his brows and looking around her office, almost unrecognizable with all the baby toys and protections at every drawer and table's edge.

"Of course not, Booth, I would never leave my son near any kind of harm. This office had been completely adapted for a baby to be around. Besides, he only crawls, it's not like he can reach the shelves or something." Brennan said. "And I'm watching him."

"Still, I don't know if I like the idea of him around all these skulls and stuff." He picked up the baby. "What if he gets traumatized?"

"Booth, fear is an irrational thing that only happens after we've been through a situation or because of something we've learnt at a young age, something we've been told. If Tommy feels comfortable around skeletons now and sees that no one here fears them, which would be completely illogical, since bones are inanimate, he won't have any reason to be traumatized."

"If you say so…" Booth shrugged unsure. "I just hope he won't feel like a freak on school, you know, growing up in this lab surrounded by squints and all."

"Growing up here will only help him at school in the future." Brennan said. "He probably will be further on knowledgement than any of his school mates."

"You know he was elected the Jeffersonian mascot, don't you?" Booth took the baby on his arms. "Seeley Booth's son, a lab's mascot." He sighed. Twenty years before, if someone told that to him, he would laugh at their faces.

"Thomas is a very outgoing and nice baby, he's very charming and conquer people very easily." She said, like she thought it wasn't a surprise at all that people loved that little boy. "He's gotten that from you."

"It's on the Booth's blood." Booth smirked and pinched Tommy's cheek softly. "This little guy is getting pretty heavy, isn't he?"

"He has a great appetite and eats quite well. The doctor says he's very healthy." Brennan said in her best proud-momma tone.

"_Ma-ma._" Tommy leaned down on Booth's arms and reached out for Brennan, who was standing in front of them.

"Did you hear that?" She asked Booth in disbelief, her face lightening up.

"Yeah." Booth chuckled surprised. "Seems like our baby just said his first word!"

"And it was '_mama_' not '_dada_' like you wanted." Brennan smirked and took the baby in her arms. "Because '_mama_' is your favorite, right, Tommy?" She said to the baby to tease Booth.

Teasing one another, it would _never_ get old.

"_Ma-ma_" The baby said again and cupped her face, bring tears of joy to her eyes. She never thought she would be able to love someone as much as she loved that kid.

"Well, at least it was not _'bo-o-nes'_." Booth joked.

"'_Mama'_ is a much easier word to say than '_bones_', Booth." Brennan said, not taking her eyes of the baby.

She sat on the couch and placed Thomas on her lap. Then, she started singing "_Dancing Phalanges, Dancing Phalanges_" and showing her fingers to the baby, who tried to imitate her. Booth looked at the duo mesmerized. Sure, '_phalanges_' wasn't exactly a baby-word, but the kid seemed to enjoy it immensely.

When Tommy squealed and giggled at his mom, Brennan wrapped her arms around him in a _momma-bear_ hug and kissed his head.

Booth couldn't do anything but smile at them. Brennan grew from a very awkward non-people person to a very tender and caring mother.

"You're so great with him." He said, his smile never leaving his face.

She smiled and blushed a little, resting her chin lightly on the baby's little shoulder. Tommy smiled at his father, showing the four front-teeth that had already grown on his mouth. His light brown hair had started to grow and his eyes got even bluer in the past months. Angela used to call him a 'Gerber Baby' and now looking at him, he could understand why. The little boy was beautiful. "It's not that hard with Tommy."

"No, Bones, really." He bent down on his knees to be at their height. "You're an amazing mom."

Brennan teared up. She wished she didn't become so soft after the pregnancy, but she really felt very flattered hearing that and thought that she'd never gotten a better compliment before. Not even when her science teacher in high school told her some day she would be one of the best scientists in the country. Or when the president thanked her for everything she did for the people in the country when she met him for the first time. "Thanks, Booth."

He grinned and reached out to stroke his son's face.

"Oh, I almost forgot." Booth suddenly stood up and took a big white envelope out of his suit. "The FBI is throwing a big party next week to homage their best employees and guess who are on the top of the best agents?"

"Who?" She asked completely clueless and he chuckled.

"We, Bones, _we_." He said cockily.

"But I'm not an agent." Brennan knitted her brows confused.

"Yeah, but you are my partner for over five years and you've worked with the FBI for just as long, they consider you a part of them." He told her and passed her the invitation before taking Thomas from her arms again to let her read it more comfortably.

Brennan noticed the invitation had an extension saying she could bring a guest.

"Who will you take with you?" She asked him.

Booth, who was making silly faces to amuse Tommy, gagged at the question.

"What do you mean _'who am I taking'_?" He asked in disbelief. _Did she really just ask him that?_

"This invitation says we can bring a guest." She looked up at him and pointed at the card.

"Yeah, Bones, because some people have a significant other they would like to take to the party and they don't work with the FBI and therefore, wasn't invited." He explained in the calmest tone he could find.

"So… you're not taking anyone?" She raised one eyebrow.

"Are you?" He asked back. _Was she serious?_

"I asked you first."

"_So mature_…" He muttered to himself.

"Booth?" She was waiting for an answer there.

"Come on, Bones. Who would I take? Please, tell me who the hell you can possible think I would take." He rolled his eyes. "I thought I didn't have to ask you to go with me, I thought it was already _obvious_."

"Am I your significant other?" Brennan felt her heart beating faster.

"_Wha-? No-! I mean, Y-" _He didn't know what to say. If he said 'no', she might conclude he wasn't interest in her anymore, what couldn't be more wrong. And if he said 'yes', she might think he was pushing her and get scared. And he also didn't want that, not after all the progress they've made lately. "You're my partner, Bones, and we are the stars of the night. I thought you'd like to go with me."

"I will… I just don't want you to feel any obligation to take me… you can take someone else if you want. I noticed you didn't date anyone since you broke up with Hannah and I know a man as virile as you need to release his biological urges."

Booth took a big breathe._ Bones, Bones… what do I do with you?_

Couldn't she realize she was the only one he wanted?

"Between the boys and the work-" _'and you'_, but he didn't say that. "-it doesn't leave me much time to think about other stuff, you know?"

"Hmm." She nodded. She herself didn't date anyone for a long, long, _loooong _time, she recalled. "So… will you take me?"

"Yes, Bones." He smiled, thinking about how jealous all the other agents would be when they saw him with his stunning partner.

"Okay." She smiled.

"Okay." He smiled back, glad that it ended up the way he wanted. "You're working in your book… I don't want to bother you."

"You didn't, Booth." Brennan said sincerely. She didn't mind his presence.

"I know you hate to be interrupted during work." He said. "What about me taking a walk around with Mr. Tommy, here?"

"Oh, that would be nice. Thomas enjoys walking around the Jeffersonian, especially the area in the museum with the very colorful sculptures."

"We'll be back in half an hour." He nodded and started walking towards the office's door. "And… Bones!"

"What?" She lifted up her head to look at him.

"Put on a pretty dress because I'll be _so-damn__-hot_ in my very expensive rented suit and you wouldn't like to feel jealous about my hotness while wearing a boring outfit." He winked and walked away. "See ya."

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**Woo-hoo! Party! Who doesn't like seeing Seeley Booth and Temperance Brennan all dressed up?**

**I know I do!**


	23. Dad's Advice

**I have bad news for you. Tomorrow I'm going to Argentina for a week and I doubt I'll be able to update during that time. =/**

**Well, I think it's better if I don't, because I have to tell you… the next updates are going to be **_**intense**_**…**

**For the good or the bad, I'm not telling you. Maybe there are both. *smirks***

**Anyway, I finished "The Partners in Denial" yesterday so my attention is completely back to this one.

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"Dad?" Brennan asked her father.

Since he found out about his grandson, Max Keenan tried to visit him and his daughter at least once a week. It was Saturday afternoon and the trio was on the living room of Brennan's apartment after having lunch. Max was playing on the floor with Tommy – who since he started crawling decided he only liked to be carry around when he's way too sleepy to crawl, and preferably the person carrying him should be his 'mama', in her absence, his father – while Brennan observed them from the couch.

Brennan was surprised of how patience her father was with the baby and the smile on his face was a proof of how much he enjoyed those family moments. She had to admit that she loved them herself. Having her father, who for years she had thought she'd lost forever, and her baby spending time with her was almost a dream. She had seen Max with children before, he had been a school teacher for years and now worked with kids at the Jeffersonian, and it wasn't a secret that Parker, Hayley and Emma loved the man, but she'd never seen him with a baby. But seeing him completely comfortable with such a young child was something that brought a smile to her face.

"Yes, honey?" He looked at her, giving Tommy's fluffy ball back – he had previous experiences with that and he knew the little boy would scream on the top of his lungs if he did not only lost his grandpa's attention but also his favorite toy.

"How did you know?" Brennan said shyly and her father seemed confused about what she was asking, so, she continued. "About Mom? That she was the person you wanted to spend the rest of your life with?"

"_There is someone for everyone. Someone you're meant to spend the rest of your life with. Alright? You just have to be open enough to see it. That's all."_

Booth's words had been haunting her for quite a while now.

For the past months, he'd become a bigger part of her life and routine than before – if that was even possible. They would spend the day working on the cases and he'd go to her house at night to spend time with their son and then usually they would just talk about their days and life like the good old times after the baby was asleep.

The weekends, which were the only time they'd sometimes spend apart before, were shared most of the time, since Parker begged her to spend time with them so he could get to know his brother better. _"Babies have short memory, Bones, I don't want Tommy to forget me!" _And since Brennan knew she was completely weak for the little Booth's charm – and big Booth's too, although she wasn't so willing to admit it, they've been spending almost all the weekends together.

An outsider would think they were a family, she wondered one of these days when they went to the club. Not the family she considered them to be, but a real family: mom, dad and kids.

But the truth was: _they were not_.

And since then, Brennan had been thinking if she wanted them to become a real, traditional family.

While growing up, she had one of those. A caring father who worked as a school teacher and who would explain patiently everything she wanted to know, even if she asked one hundred questions a day. A lovely mother who found time everyday in her schedule to cook at least one meal a day to please her kids and who would read for her every night. A protective older brother, who she loved and who she knew loved her back.

But the thing was: since their parents ran away and left her and Russ alone and her consequently enter in the foster system, Brennan didn't want to have a family like that. In her mind, having that again would trigger that feeling she was away to put to rest many time before after many nights crying.

And now, having Tommy, Booth and Parker, she found herself wanting all that again.

She caught herself _waiting_ for the weekends Booth would have Parker.

"Oh, that's a tricky question." Max sighed and leaned on her couch, becoming thoughtful while all the scenes from his life came back to him again. "I don't really know when it happened, there was just a point in my life that I freaked out when I realized I couldn't live without her."

Max raised his head and smiled at his daughter, who resembled so much the woman he loved and lost.

Brennan was staring at him carefully, as if his answer would change _her _life forever. Even though she didn't like to admit it, she knew she was a lot like her father. Maybe if she understood his reasons to marry her mother, she would be able to define what the strange thing she felt on her body every time Booth looked at her was, or the fact that she was unable to hide a smile every time she saw her partner playing with his sons.

"We met in college. I was studying biology and your mom studied math. Somehow, we ended up having one class together and the professor partner us up for the rest of the semester. We didn't like it at first. Oh, we really didn't." Max smiled with the nostalgic feeling. _He missed his wife so much_. It felt like it was yesterday that they had met. "Ruth arrived late at class that day, the first day, and I thought it was very irresponsible. She explained she was late because she was helping someone else, a friend of hers had broken up with her boyfriend and was a wreck. I gave her a speech of how she should take school more seriously and she got really mad at me. You mom-" He chuckled. "-that woman really had a temper. She told me I was heartless and probably didn't have friends. Which wasn't wrong, I spent more times with my books than with people, I have to admit. But after that day, we were obligated to see each other almost every day and we would bicker and tease each other for every single thing."

Brennan smiled, thinking how much it resembled her own story with Booth.

"When the year was over and the professor congratulated us for having the best project of the class, I felt empty and clueless of what would happen after. The woman drove me crazy, yes, but with time, I started waiting for those two hours we would have to spend together every day to work on our project. That was when I started thinking maybe something was wrong with me."

"You thought you were in love with her?" Brennan asked sincerely curious.

"Not at first. I didn't believe in such a thing like love. To me it was only a result of chemistry reactions on the brain." He made a face.

_Yep. We really are more like each other than I like to admit,_ Brennan grinned.

"But when I couldn't sleep at night because I was thinking of her, or when I realized my heart started beating faster every time I saw her face and my days were much better when I spent time with her, I realized maybe people was right, and that love was something bigger than chemical reactions." Max sighed.

"And you told her that?"

"Yes. And I have to tell you, Tempe, I was worse than you with the science back then." He chuckled. "Your mom looked at me like I was crazy, that the two of us together would never work, because, hey, we were completely different people with different beliefs." Max shot a glare at his daughter trying to send her the message. "But I was insistent. Two years later, we got married. Nine months after, Russ was born."

Brennan didn't say anything for a while, she just kept staring at an empty spot, trying to think about everything she and Booth had been through together. And during all that time, she couldn't remember of even one moment when her partner wasn't there for her.

Even after she hid his baby from him, he'd come back to her after thinking about the situation and gave his complete support.

But _one_ thing.

One thing still bothered her.

"_You know when you talk to old couples who'd been in love for thirty, forty or fifty years, it's always the guy who says 'I knew'. I knew, right from the beginning. I'm that guy. Bones, I'm that guy, I _know_."_

Booth had told her that. Nineteen months before.

And after spending some months in Afghanistan, he came back engaged and claiming to be 'in love' with someone else.

How was she supposed to believe in his love when he proved it was not true? When he was able to fall in love with another woman so easily?

"And, Tempe?" Max snapped her back to reality. "That class we took together… that happened forty years ago and I still think about her and how much I miss her _every single day_. Don't waste more time… he's a good guy and he truly loves you and your little boy."

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"Didn't you hear what he said? _'Sexy'_, Brennan, and that dress… it's _not _sexy." Angela scowled looking at Brennan, who was wearing a very nice dress, but completely professional looking and anything but sexy.

"Actually, Booth's words were _'put on a pretty dress because I'll be __so-damn-hot__ in my very expensive rented suit and you wouldn't like to feel jealous about my hotness while wearing a boring outfit'_. This _is_ a pretty dress, Ange." Brennan frowned and looked at the mirror.

"It is, to go to the Church on Sunday morning." Angela crossed her arms under her chest. "And it is, in fact, boring."

"I don't go to the Church." Brennan grimaced. _That dress wasn't Church-like!_ She bought it in a very famous brand and it cost a good amount of money, to be honest.

"Exactly." Angela grinned. "Where is that dress I made you buy last year?"

"What dress?" Brennan knitted her brows thoughtfully.

"The black one, long, low neckline, crossed on the back…" Angela waved her hand trying to remember the details. She made Brennan buy it after her friend lost a bet, in which she could choose anything for the scientist and she would have to buy it without complains.

_Anything._

Which, of course, led to Angela choosing the most amazing and sexiest dress they've ever seen and Brennan agreeing - it was a bet after all - but claiming she would never wear the thing in this lifetime.

"I- I'm _not_ going to wear that dress!" Brennan's eyes doubled the size when she realized _which _dress Angela was talking about.

"Why not? Booth wants hot, _that's_ hot." She smirked. She had to see his face when he landed her eyes on his Bones wearing that dress.

"Booth wants a_ pretty_ dress, he said _he_ would be hot, not that _I_ should be." Brennan remembered her friend.

"It was implied, Sweetie. And I don't doubt he will be hot at all, hell, that man can look hot even if he's wrapped in a paper bag." Angela said thoughtfully and noticed the gaze her friend was giving her. "Relax, Brennan, you know I love my curly-blonde conspiracy theorist. I would never try to get your guy."

"Booth is not my guy…" Brennan felt her throat getting dry.

"Right, but you want him looking at, I don't know, Perotta during the party? Or at you? Because, believe me, Sweetie, once he sees you on that dress, his eyes _won't _leave you."

The thought of Agent Perotta in a sexy dress was enough to make Brennan rethink about her initial choice of not accepting Angela's idea of the black dress at all.

"But, Ange, that dress is so_ not_ appropriated for a work-related party." She pursed her lips.

"Trust me, that dress with those killer high heels you have, there's no way our favorite FB-Eye candy will look at anyone but you. And please, Brennan, don't disappoint me tonight and grab that man and kiss him till you both are out of breath."

Brennan chuckled.

"You're ridiculous, Angela." She nodded her head. "You know you can still go to the party with us if you want. Both Booth and I have spare invitations, you could go with Hodgins."

"No… this is your night with Booth, besides, you know how much Hodgins hates those events. We'll stay here taking care of Tommy while his parents make out under the moonlight."

"Angela!"

"Oh, no, please, Bren, please tell me you'll kiss him tonight. I'll die here if you don't."

"I can't see any relation between your death and the fact that I kiss Booth or not." Brennan raised her eyebrow.

"I know you want to kiss those gorgeous lips and I'm tired of waiting and seeing you two having eye-sex."

"There's no such a thing as 'eye-sex'!" Brennan said shocked. "And Booth and I certainly don't do that."

"No… you just do that like… twice an hour…" Angela shrugged and Brennan held her lower lip between her teeth.

"I have to admit I've been thinking about kissing him quite often lately." Her voice was so low that Angela almost didn't hear what she said.

"_Kissing Booth?" _Angela cried and Brennan wondered if her friend said those two words so loud to make her even shyer.

She nodded.

"That's all I needed to hear! Now, come here, Sweetie, let's get you ready for this party and tomorrow, Booth will bent down on the floor and kiss my feet thanking me for giving him the most beautiful woman in the world."

"I don't think he'll actually do that." Brennan wrinkled her nose.

"Sweetie, just trust me." Angela smirked. "This will be your night."

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**I'll only travel tomorrow morning, so… if you feed my inspiration with reviews today, I might write another chapter before I go and maybe I'll be able to update while I'm away, if not, it will be still good if I have another chapter written or almost written when I come back! ;)**

**Hope you liked this one!**


	24. Under the Moonlight

**Hola, amigos! ;)**

**I just want to say this is the proof of how much I love you guys and how much I appreciate all the feedback you have me. :)**

**I wrote this chapter in the middle of the night before coming here to make sure you wouldn't have to wait a whole week, so, I really hope you're going to like it.**

**It's one of my all time favorites out of the ones I wrote… but… I don't know…**

**I'm having such an amazing time here in Argentina, it's almost sad I'm coming back home so soon. ****=/**

**Let's see what you think… extra-long chapter!

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Booth entered the party, his partner's arms linked with his. He didn't dare to turn his face to look at her. Not after his reaction previously that night. He was afraid he wouldn't be able to keep his eyes on the places they were supposed to be.

_What on Earth was Brennan thinking when she put on that dress?_

Not that he didn't like it, oh no, that was the big problem there. He liked it _way _too much for his own well being.

It was like all his dirty fantasies of her were coming true.

_In the FBI party._

And the fact that he was able to appreciate all that amazing view meant all the other people out there could do the same. And that... that he didn't like... not one little bit.

When he arrived at her apartment to pick her up at the scheduled time that night, he almost had to pick his jaw up off the floor when he saw Brennan in that unbelievably amazing black dress. There wasn't a word to define how wonderful she was looking to his eyes: _stunning, beautiful, perfect_. None of them was good enough to describe how terrific Temperance Brennan was looking.

Her hair was loose and wavy, her bangs were brushed to the side and black eyeliner made her gorgeous blue eyes stand out even more. The dress wrapped her figure perfectly; it was almost like it was _made_ for her. Its low-cut didn't leave much for his imagination.

How was he supposed to _enjoy_ the party when he would want to shoot every single guy in that place who looked at Brennan with dirty thoughts in their minds? Which wouldn't be their fault, of course, only gay men wouldn't look at her in that dress without desire in their eyes. Well, maybe _even _a gay man _would_ start thinking about becoming straight once they saw Dr. Temperance Brennan in that piece of cloth.

"Booth?" Her sweet voice brought him back to Earth. "Are you okay?"

"Wha-" He looked down at her._Crap_. _Eyes up, Seeley Booth. Keep your eyes up! _"Yeah, I'm fine. _Great_. Why are you asking?"

"You look tense." She frowned. Things weren't working out the way she wanted them to. At all.

"I'm not tense." He let out a laugh that even oblivious Brennan noticed was completely false.

"Yes, you are." Brennan kept her eyes on his face, even though he wouldn't dare to do the same with her. "You haven't said a word in our way here and you barely even looked at me since we left my apartment! What is wrong? You don't like the way I look?"

Dammit.

_Dammit, dammit, dammit._

Booth gulped, not knowing what to say_. "No, Bones, darling, you look stunning. The problem is: every time I look at you, all I want to do is rip that dress off of you"_ didn't sound like a nice thing.

"Angela said you would find this dress very pleasing to look at." The sadness in her tone nearly killed him inside. "I guess she was wrong."

So… it was Angela's idea to put Brennan in that dress made of sin. _Of course._ His precious Bones wouldn't have such a devilish, dirty mind.

"She said you wouldn't take your eyes off me once you saw me and since we met, you didn't look at me even once." She lamented.

That gave him an idea.

"Do you want me to look at you, Bones?" He asked her in a husky voice, taking advantage of the moment to take a good view of her, eyeing her up and down._ So… she wants to kill me? I can be very charming as well._

Brennan opened her mouth, suddenly in a complete loss for words – something that didn't happen to her very often. He was standing so close to her and he wasn't lying when he told her he would be looking hot at this party. The man looked even more gorgeous than usual in that tuxedo and the smell of his cologne made her want to grab him by his collar and don't let him go for _at least_ the next couple of hours.

"I- I-" Booth felt amused. He loved the fact that he could also find ways to make his partner embarrassed and speechless. "It was just what_ Angela_ said, I didn't expect anything. You're my partner." She tried to get away with that.

"I didn't ask about Angela, Bones." He lifted her chin with the tip of his thumb, caressing her neck with his other fingers in the process. "I want to know if_ you_ want _me _to look at you."

Brennan looked at him and didn't say anything for a while. She could pretend to be clueless and say that she obviously wanted him to look at her, that she didn't like it when people talked to her while looking at someone else, but she knew pretty well he wasn't meaning it like that.

"I wouldn't mind." She whispered, deciding to go with the truth, her throat completely dry.

The corners of Booth's lips curved up in a smile.

"Great." He said, teasing her leaning down his head two inches, just to pull away a second before he touched her lips. He saw the disappointment in her face and that gave him a lot of hope and refilled his energy for the night. "Let's go, Bones, people are waiting for us."

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"And here he is playing with a plastic ulna's replica in my office at the Jeffersonian." Brennan showed the picture in her phone proudly to one of the agents who asked her about the little boy. Tommy was cracking up on the floor of her office holding a piece of bone almost his size.

"He's adorable." The other woman smiled at the picture.

"I concur." Brennan smiled widely.

Booth was standing next to her, making sure the other males wouldn't dare to ask her for a drink or a dance. They've been congratulated by many people in the party for their outstanding job for the FBI and now Brennan was talking with Agent Hathaway, who had a baby almost Tommy's age. When the women started to talk about baby food, Booth decided it was a safe time to leave her side for a moment to grab a drink.

"Bones, I'm going to get myself something to drink, do you want anything?" He leaned down a bit so she could hear him in the loud room and it gave Brennan shivers when she felt his breath in her neck.

"Oh, I would like a glass of champagne, thank you." Brennan said. She was still nursing Thomas from time to time, but since it wasn't a regular activity anymore, the little boy was now eating soup and formula, she decided drinking a glass of champagne wouldn't be that bad.

"Okay. I'll be back in a minute." He smiled and turned to Hathaway. "Excuse me."

"Ah." Agent Hathaway sighed and grinned once Booth was out of earshot. "It must be great to have such an adoring and handsome husband."

"Booth is not my husband." Brennan's brows furrowed. She'd thought a woman who worked with Booth at the FBI would be aware of that information.

"Oh, so you guys are that kind of people who just live together and don't turn it official?" She asked curiously.

"No, Booth and I are not in a romantic relationship." Brennan explained. "He's just my partner."

"But…" The agent was confused. "Isn't he the father of your son?"

"Yes." Brennan confirmed. That wasn't a secret.

"And he has a picture of you with him and his son on his desk…" Agent Hathaway raised one eyebrow, not believing those two were _not_ in a relationship. She didn't even have a picture of _her_ husband on her desk.

"We are just two very good friends who have a son together." Brennan shrugged, not seeing what was the big problem in that. She also had the same picture on her desk in her office at the Jeffersonian. It was the one they took at the park the day Parker met Thomas. They all were smiling and looked so happy that she decided to have it close so she could look at it whenever she wanted and remember the good time they had together that morning. It never failed at improving her mood. "Have you never seen friends having children together and remaining only friends?"

"Yes… sure…" Hathaway took a sip of her drink so Brennan couldn't notice that even though that could be the truth to some people, the way her partner looked at her certainly was _not _the way one friend looked at another. But she wouldn't be the one to say that.

Rumor had it in the FBI that Dr. Brennan had a short temper and could kick people's asses like anybody else. And she wasn't willing to be kicked in the middle of the party and get hit by those freaking huge stilettos because she just stated the obvious.

"_Hey, Hathaway!_ Come here and check this out!"A man shouted from the other side of the room.

_Saved by the bell_, she sighed relieved_._ _I'll owe Grayson that one._

"Excuse me, Dr. Brennan, I see you later. Congratulations on the baby."

Brennan looked around trying to find Booth once the woman was gone.

"Temperance." She spun on her heels to check who was the person greeting her, although only one person on that party would address her by her first name.

"Andrew." Brennan tried to smile. _Where was Booth?_

"You look very alluring tonight." _Oh, no, was he trying to _flirt _with her? _Brennan felt an urge to puke. Hacker was an interesting man, but she thought she'd made it clear she wasn't interested in having a relationship with him.

"Thank you." She smiled.

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_What?_

_Oh no. _Oh no.

_What the hell is bubblehead doing there with Bones?_

One minute.

_One freaking minute I leave my partner alone and he tries to get something with her._

_Didn't the man ever give up?_

_Gee, she had a son with another man – me! – right after you stopped seeing each other!_

_Get a clue!_

_Get yourself some pride, dude!_

Jaw clenched and holding firmly the two goblets of champagne in his hands, Booth quickened his pace towards Brennan.

Well, at least she was looking anything but pleased with the company.

"_Booth!"_ _Was it a sparkle of relief he saw in her eyes when she saw him?_ "It took you so long to come back."

"I couldn't find the waiter with the champagne." He explained and gave her one of the goblets.

She took a sip of her champagne and Booth placed his hand possessively on the small of her back. "Hi, Hacker."

"Booth." The man didn't look very happy to realize the scientist was not alone. "I thought Temperance was alone."

_If a glare could kill…_

"No, she came with me." Booth said seriously and pulled her closer to him, what made her glimpse at him confused by the reaction.

_As if he didn't know we came here together._

"Well, I have to compliment the other guests." Hacker said, taking a last look at the woman in front of him. _Oh, she was beautiful._

_Dude, you really want to lose a limb, don't you?_

But she wasn't worth a bullet in his brain, what he was quite sure Booth was thinking about doing if he kept trying to get his partner. '_Just partners' his ass…_

Brennan yelped when Booth grabbed her waist.

"_Sorry_." He whispered in her ear.

"Excuse me." And with that, Hacker was gone. "Enjoy your night."

"We will." Booth said between clenched teeth._ "Asshole."_ He muttered under his breath.

"What did you say?" Brennan asked.

"Nothing." Booth's mood improved considerably when he looked at his partner again. "Aren't you feeling cold here, Bones?"

He wanted desperately for her to cover her cleavage and give him a moment of peace.

"No, the heating system here is functioning quite well."

_Talk about the heat…_

"Okay, just, you know… if you feel cold or something, you can get my suit." He offered.

"Okay. Thank you." She nodded and her face lightened up when she heard the cords of the next song playing on the dance floor.

"_Lying in my bed I hear the clock tick, and think of you, caught up in circles confusion, is nothing new. Flashback, warm nights, almost left behind, suitcases of memories…  
time after—"_

"Booth! Let's go dance." Booth couldn't help smiling at her excitement as she grabbed him by the hand and started walking towards the dance floor. "It's Cyndi Lauper! I _love_ this song!"

In a matter of seconds, they were in the middle of the place, the lights shining and blinking around them.

"Won't you dance?" She asked with a grin on her face, her happiness reaching her eyes.

_I love you. _

That was the only thing in his mind at that moment.

How could such a sexy woman in that outrageously gorgeous dress look so much like an innocent little girl listening and dancing so adorably at her favorite song?

With a chuckle, he grabbed her by the waist and started dancing with her.

"_If you're lost, you can look, and you will find me… time after time…" _She sang along with the song, snaking up her arms to embrace his neck.

"_If you fall, I will catch you-I'll be waiting… time after time…" _Booth sang and pulled her closer to his chest, both laughing as they remembered their early teen years singing to the classic song.

Brennan smiled once the song started to get slower again and rested her head on his neck. _Oh, could he smell any better?_

"You had never sang Cyndi Lauper's songs again." He whispered to her. "You have a really great voice, it's such a pity."

She lifted up her head to look at him, mourning the loss of the contact with his neck.

"I- I don't want to anymore…" He saw the fear in her eyes and held her tighter. "I almost lost you last time…"

"But, hey, I'm right here, ain't I?" He smirked.

"You were gone for two weeks, Booth." Her expression changed. "I thought you were dead."

"I'm so sorry for that, even though it was all Sweets' fault." He hugged her and planted a kiss on the top of her head. "But it's in the past, Bones, I'm not letting that happen again. I would love to hear you singing again. Your mom was right, you are better than Lauper."

That made her chuckle against his chest.

"Really?" She narrowed her eyes, arms still around his neck.

"Of course." He shot her his patented charm smile and brushed her cheeks with the tip of his fingers.

Brennan smirked. _Was he going to kiss her?_ Because it really seemed like that.

Deciding to play along with his teasing, and taking that as revenge, she released herself from his embrace right before he caught her lips with his.

"I'd like another glass of champagne!" She waved the empty one in her hand. "Will you come with me?"

"Sure…" Booth tried to hide his disappointment._ In hell _he would let her go get another drink all by herself.

Brennan had a crooked smile on her face while they walked to the bar.

_They were even._

_._

_._

"I think I was wrong about the heating system… it's getting quite warm in here, don't you think?" She asked him after the third and last glass of champagne she would take that night. "I would like to go outside."

"Yeah, let's go there. The view is amazing." Booth agreed, loving the excuse the leave the party for a while. _Anything to keep her away from those male gazes._

The terrace was empty and a full moon was shining brightly in the sky. Living in DC, they didn't have much time to appreciate such a beautiful night.

Brennan walked towards the parapet to take a full view of the town. She could see the obelisk illuminated and the reflecting pool they met five months before below.

"The city looks so beautiful from up here." She said, leaning on the parapet.

Booth noticed her shiver as a blast of wind passed through them and took his suit off to cover her back. Brennan didn't complain and rested her head on his arm when he stood next to her.

"One of the only things I miss from Indonesia is stargazing during the night." She confessed. "Sometimes, when everybody was sleeping, I would go out, lay on the sand and just look up at the sky and think about our baby growing inside of me, my life back in here… you." She took a pause before continuing."_Us."_

She took a glimpse at him, but he was just staring at the city, looking lost in his thoughts.

"I used to do the same in Afghanistan. The sky in the desert is like nothing else in the world…" He told her. "Whenever I felt sad, or lonely… whenever I missed Parker or you, I went out and looked at the sky and thought of you."

Booth finally turned his head to look at her, who was staring at him carefully, her eyes more beautiful than ever reflecting the moonlight.

"You know… since the first time I saw you, I thought there was nothing like your eyes… sometimes looking at them, I can see the galaxies… and the stars." He traced her features with the tip of his fingers as he spoke. "So, looking at the sky comforted me in some kind of way."

"_Booth_…" She whispered, but he touched her mouth with his finger, as if telling her not to say anything.

After a couple of minutes just staring at each other not sure about what to do next, she decided to break the silence. _"I missed you."_

And then, five hundred and thirty two days later, their lips finally found each other again.

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**So?**

**I have to admit I'm kind of nervous, since this one is such an important chapter in this story.**

**Seeing galaxies in her eyes was a courtesy of Mr. Boreanaz. LOL**

**His words!**

**Please, let me know what you think!**

**By the way, I can get "Time After Time" out of my head since I wrote this! LOL**

**Oh... and don't forget... that night is FAR from over...**

**And no, I did NOT forget the issues.**

**Stay tuned! ;)**


	25. When Things Are Finally Spoken

**Hi, guys!**

**I'm finally back home and started writing this right away… Hope you'll keep loving me in the next chapters…**

**Thanks so much for all the reviews!

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Brennan's words were lost as Booth's mouth slanted over hers. The touch was fleeting, his lips brushed hers lightly, caressing them before deepening the kiss. They were alone in the terrace and Booth felt no need to rush that moment. He waited so much to finally have her in his arms again that he didn't want it to end.

Brennan was paralyzed for a while, almost not believing it was really happening. When she felt his tongue poking to enter her mouth, she grabbed his lapels and brought him closer to her.

That was all Booth need to wrap his arms around her body and kiss her the way he longed for for so long.

Five seconds, five minutes, they had no idea how long it last, but both of them were surprised when they pulled apart to take a breath.

Booth leaned his head to look at her. She gazed up to look at him, confusion all over her face, looking like she'd never seen him before. He smiled as he kept staring at her with kind eyes and cupped her face with his hands, brushing her cheek with his thumb.

"I love you." He said, deep from his heart, no regrets, no need to add anything this time. Just the truth.

Her eyes grew wider and Booth felt his stomach flipping when she took a step back, dodging from his arms, as if she was afraid of his touch.

Brennan just stared at him for a moment, looking like a lost puppy as she scanned him body.

"_No… no, you don't_." Her voice was low and he noticed the hurt in her tone as she spoke.

Booth's brows furrowed. From all the things she could say to him, those words were the last ones he was expecting to hear.

"What?" He wailed. How come she could say that? He'd been loving her for almost _eight-freaking-years_! He stepped towards her and Brennan took another one back, hitting the wall as she moved. Trapped between his strong body and the wall, she couldn't do anything but look at him. "_Of course I do_!"

She shook her head and he saw the tears in her eyes.

_Crap._

This was so not how this was supposed to be. Where was the sexy and resolved woman yearning to kiss him just a few minutes before? Booth didn't like vulnerable and scared Bones.

His heart sank when she said her next words.

"You don't…" She looked down, avoiding his eyes. She didn't want to let him see her crying. "If you do, you're going to be a hypocrite." She stuttered at the end of the sentence. Brennan swallowed and raised her eyes to look at him at. "And, Booth, I don't want you to be a hypocrite."

This was his turn to hop back confused.

"How loving you make me a hypocrite?" He asked her. "Enlighten me, Bones, because I'm seriously lost here."

Brennan took a deep breath and sighed, turning her back at him to look at the illuminated Washington again.

"That day, when we left Sweets office and you kissed me-" She started and Booth had to get closer to her to listen. "You didn't say you loved me, but I could see you cared a lot about me. I felt the same way about you." She turned her head to look at him when she sad that. "But when I turned you down, you told me you were like those guys who knew when they found the women they wanted to be with, who they would loved them even after 30, 40 and 50 years."

"And that was the truth." Booth said, not getting what she was trying to say. He grabbed her arms and made her look at him. "Bones, I've been in love with you since I saw you lecturing de-fleshing techniques at the American University. Well, I knew it had to be something big, because feeling so attracted by a woman talking about taking the skin off of dead people is really not-"

He was trying to humor her, but that had the opposite effected on her and his partner became furious.

"You told me you could love me for 30 years, Booth, and you go away for a few months and comes back _engaged_!" She spat, the tears falling loosely from her eyes. "You told me you loved me, you made love with me and came back from Afghanistan claiming to be crazy in love with someone else one year later! _That _makes you a hypocrite! "

Booth's mouth hanged open. So _that _was why she was mad?

If he remembered things clearly, _she _was the one who turned him down and accepted when he said he had to move on. _She_ was the one who left him alone in his bed after they made love. And _she_ was the one who hid her pregnancy from him.

"_Wait a minute_." He raised his hands and felt anger run up his body. "If I remember clearly, _you _were the one who told me to find another woman, because _you_ couldn't be the one who would stay with me, that you didn't _want _to!"

"_I was scared_!" She defended herself, not noticing they had raised their voices at the heat of the discussion.

"Right, and because of your stupid fear you didn't mind breaking my heart." He huffed, his heart starting to ache again. It was the first time they really talked about everything that happened between them in the past couple of years. "_Twice_." He added bitterly.

"You knew me, Booth." She wasn't angry anymore. She looked sad and lost and Booth hated that. He'd rather one hundred times better to deal with an angry Bones than with a hurt one. "You know my story, you probably know me better than I know myself." She wiped her tears with the back of her hands. "You knew how I felt about love." He noticed the past tense and grew curious. "You knew I was afraid I'd lose everyone I love. When you told me you wanted to be with me, all I could think about was that if I let that happen, I would lose you. You were this perfect guy, with a huge warm heart, eager to start a family and be with someone who you could lose yourself and love." She sniffed. "There was nothing I would like more than have that with you, Booth."

Booth couldn't feel his limbs after hearing that and had to lean against the wall.

"But I was afraid I would never be enough for you, that you would be disappointed with me at one point and get frustrated and in the end, I wouldn't even have your friendship. " She continued. "I'm not good at dealing with feelings and you know that. But the moment I told you I couldn't change, you didn't say anything. You didn't try to convince me we could work together, that you didn't want me to change." She wiped her face again, thanking Angela silently for using her waterproof makeup on her that evening. "And the next thing you say is that you're going to move on."

"What did you want me to say?" He asked.

"You didn't even give me time to think!" She said frustrated.

They saw a couple approaching the terrace and Brennan took a deep breath trying to regain her composure. She didn't want the whole FBI talking about them the following Monday.

"_What goes on between us should be just ours."_

"We shouldn't be discussing this here." She told him with a sigh.

"You're right." He nodded and caught his lip between his teeth. "Let's go home."

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"My apartment is on the other way." That was the first thing Brennan said since they entered his car.

"I know." He said simply, not bothering to look at her.

"Then why are you taking the opposite direction?" She asked.

"Because we are not going to your apartment." He said like it was obvious and saw her confused the face. "We're going to my place."

"Why?"

"Why? _Why_?" He turned his head to look at her. "You think we can start a talk like the one we just did and let things like that?" She didn't say anything, so he continued. "We already waited too long for an open heart talk. We'll resolve things tonight. Everything, Bones. _Everything_."

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Brennan had been in his apartment tons of times since she came back from Indonesia. But when she stepped into Booth's home that night, she couldn't help feeling chills in her body. All the times she'd been there lately, Tommy was with her.

"Feel yourself at home." Booth said sarcastically. "I'll grab us a drink."

"I don't want anything to drink." She sat on the couch and folded her arms on her chest.

"I do." He shrugged and walked to the kitchen.

She sighed and looked around, suddenly feeling cold and overly exposed in that dress. While she waited for him to come back, images of the last time she'd been there alone with him started to hit her mind.

_"We have to have sex." _

_"__What?__"_

_"It's obvious, Booth. Until we finally do it, this tension will never go away and in consequence, I hardly doubt we'll ever be able to work together again. Once it's over and our curiosities and libidos satisfied, we can be the partners and friends we used to be."_

_That was the lame excuse ever,_ she snorted. Having sex with him certainly didn't change a thing about the tension that floated around them. In fact, Brennan was pretty sure it only made things _worse_. She had to use all of her self control to not throw herself in his arms every time he smiled at her, or made her laugh and especially when she saw him being so amazing with Tommy and Parker.

_"Because I don't believe what we have in here is only sexual tension."_

Brennan leaned back on the couch and sighed. _Was he right? Did they really love each other?_ Yes, there was nothing in the world she wouldn't do for him and she knew he felt the same way about her. And there was also the fact she never intended to have anyone's child but his. And also there was that thing that her days were so much brighter when they were together.

_But if that was the truth, why did Booth come back engaged to Hannah? Was his love for her that weak?_

"I was miserable." He said like he was reading her mind. Brennan didn't notice he was back from the kitchen and quickly sat back on the couch startled by his voice. He ignored her reaction and handed her a goblet of wine, even though she said she didn't want one. She accepted. "The first two months in Afghanistan were like hell. All I did was think about you _every single day_. How great we could have been together. How much I loved you and what could I do to make you realize we were made for each other."

Brennan chewed her cheeks. She didn't want to start crying again. Most importantly, she was yearning to hear what he had to say to her.

"I was about to come back to Washington when I met Hannah. I had just talked with Parker on the phone and I was missing home more than ever. Hannah saw me and introduced herself, made a couple of jokes and we ended up becoming friends. I was broken heart, Bones, and she was an easy and enjoyable company. I didn't have to torture myself thinking I couldn't kiss her because I might lose my best friend doing that, because damn, she wasn't my best friend. I didn't have to worry about my heart being broken again, it was already broken and I knew I would never love anyone again that way. I wouldn't allow my heart to be crushed the way it did. I knew better that time."

Brennan opened her mouth to talk, but he hushed her raising one hand. He started to talk now and she would have to listen.

"It was good feeling loved for a change and Hannah was easy to deal with. I was away from you for almost one year, Bones… and you didn't tried to contact me even once. So, one night we drank a little too much and I asked her to marry me."

"_You were inebriated_?" Brennan asked surprised.

He ignored her rhetoric question and continued.

"When we came back and I saw you again… suddenly all those feeling I hid inside started to come back again. And that pissed me a little, I have to admit. How much you influenced in my happiness. But I was certain I would not let things get crazy the way they were before… and then you told me about Tommy." He smiled remembered their baby. "I was pissed at first. Hurt. Feeling betrayed." He admitted and she nodded. She understood. "But I always wanted to have a baby with you, Bones. Not the way it happened, but what matters is the end, right?" He smiled sadly. "But having a little creature part me, part you… oh, that was great. And then, one day after I found out about him and I was getting used with the idea and trying to figure out what we would do about it, Hannah told me she was pregnant."

"_She- she was pregnant_?" Brennan gasped, suddenly feeling very dizzy.

"Will you let me finish?" He raised one eyebrow.

"Sorry." She folded her hands on her lap. "Continue."

"Well, she told me she was pregnant and I started picturing my future with her, having another child with a third different woman and I knew I couldn't do that. She took a pregnancy test and it came out negative, and I never felt so relieved in my life. I told her the truth and that she deserved someone who wasn't in love with his partner and who loved her the way she deserved." Booth took her hands on his. "Bones, I don't want another woman in my life. I told you that night and I repeat. I want _you_. I want to wake up next to you every day, I want to go to the park with you and the boys on Sunday mornings. I want to cuddle in our bed in a rainy day and watch a silly romantic comedy and then bicker with you after you point out every illogicality in the movie. I want to be able to kiss you whenever the hell I want without feeling I'm doing something wrong. I love you, Bones, I love all of you, with all your flaws and with all your qualities. I love you for who you are. An amazing friend, a terrific mother to our son, a person who cares so much about the others, who would do everything for the people she loves, who have no idea how big her heart is, who is so beautiful inside and out. Funny, smart and the best partner one could ask for."

And then she was crying. "What if we screw everything up? You know me, Booth, I'm a master on screwing things up."

"If something goes wrong, we'll find a way to make things up. _Together._" He leaned down to kiss her softly on the lips. "That's what we do, right? Solve things together?"

She smiled between her tears and threw herself in her arms.

"I don't want to lose you, Booth." She sniffed in his chest. He smiled and embraced her, his heart feeling lighter and thanking God for her being there in his arms instead of running to whichever Island there might be in Asia.

"I will never leave you as long as you want me by your side." He whispered. "And well… when you are mad at, and yell at me and tell me to go away…" He cupped her face and made her look at him, smiling that way that made her heart melt. "I'll stay by your side anyway."

She chuckled and kissed him, wanting to taste every part of him.

"I love you too." She whispered against his mouth, knowing each one of those words were completely true.

He smiled, his heart beat crazily inside his chest and knowing that this time, when he kissed her again and took her to his room, they'd do things right.

Because this time, this time… _nothing_ was left unsaid.

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**This could be the end of this story, right?**

**But for the good or the bad, it isn't the end yet.**

**I hope Brennan didn't go much out of character on this… but I have a feeling she would act a bit like that when she finally let her emotions show…**

**Things are going to happen… *mysterious face***

**Stay tuned and please review!**


	26. Unpleasant Surprise

**Thank you so much for the lovely feedback on the last chapter! **

**I really hope the love will keep spreading after you read this one! =D**

**By the way, last chapter was the one with the fewer reviews in this whole story… and after reading this one, remember that the most people tell me what they thought about the chapters, the faster the next one comes.**

**I'm not saying this to beg for reviews, it's just that I'm in this point of the story where the excitement from the start has already fade and writing a new chapter is way more complicated. **

**Not to mention the big writer's block I've been getting.**

**So, seeing that people are still interested in reading it really gives me fuel to keep writing and not quitting.**

**So, please, don't forget to review after reading!

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"What?" Brennan grinned when she noticed Booth was staring at her with a goofy expression on his face. He was lying next to her in the bed and resting his head on his left hand, while appreciating the beautiful woman lying on her back, her hair in a lovely mess around his white pillow.

Booth hadn't felt so genuinely happy and fulfilled like that in longer than he could remember. For the past couple of years, he felt he was leaving with only one half of him, and now he finally felt complete. He felt renewed. He felt strong. And, more than anything, he felt _loved_.

He smiled and touched her face with his right hand.

"I'm just trying to convince myself this is real." Booth tilted his head to kiss her mouth.

"Since I remember quite well how we ended up here, I doubt this is a dream." She smiled, raising her hand to touch his cheek tenderly.

"I fear that when we leave this bed and come back to reality, all this is going to fade away." He said, concern suddenly taking over his handsome face.

"Booth." Brennan said seriously and looking into his eyes. "I'm not going anywhere this time." She knew what he feared. Even if he didn't mention it with these exact words, she knew he was afraid she would leave him again. That was what she did the previous times he opened up about his feelings for her. _She ran away_. Instead of dealing with her own feelings, she chose the coward way and fled to somewhere he wouldn't be able to contact her. She wouldn't do that now. Not again. "I learnt my lesson. When you came back and told me you were engaged to Hannah, I had some rather unpleasant feelings about her." She pursed her lips. "And I have to admit I had quite malicious thoughts about her too, even though she didn't do anything to me directly that could provoke that." She caught her bottom lip between her teeth and looked away embarrassed. "It was totally irrational, but I couldn't help it. I didn't enjoy seeing you fussing all over her."

He grinned.

"Don't smile like that." She pouted. "It was very mean of you to tell me you were in love with her."

"I told you it was only to annoy you, because I was hurt." He explained again, his eyes not leaving hers.

"Well, it was still not nice."

"You were jealous." He teased and tickled her nose. "Even though there was no reason to, because I've already told you I've never forgotten you, much less was able to stop loving you any of that time, even if I tried really hard."

He gave her his best charming smile but she wouldn't let him win.

"I will not start the discussion about how you loving me and being engaged to someone else was very wrong because I really don't want to spoil this moment." She said and he decided not to remind her she was the one who brought that subject up. Especially since she moved closer to him and started brushing his torso with her long and delicate fingers. "And I was_ not_ jealous."

"You totally were." Booth lied on his back with a victorious grin, enjoying the touch of her hands. "_You were dying of jealousy_."

"That is so untrue!" She stopped the caressing and rolled on the mattress so she could face him. "Wait." She said as she remembered something. "You were jealous of _Tommy_!" She pointed her index finger to his face accusingly.

_How did she know that? _

"Angela informed me." Brennan said pretentiously, knowing what he was wondering about.

_Of course…_

"Well…" He said, taking the finger she was pointing at him in his mouth and sucking it. "I didn't like the thought of another man touching my Bones. I didn't know he was a baby and actually my son..." His lips traveled down to her arm and she let out a soft moan. "And yes… I _was_ jealous." His arms wrapped around her body and brought it closer to his, running his fingers up and down on her back. "I'm man enough to admit it, you know, unlike other people." He said defiantly before smacking a kiss on her mouth and stopping the sweet torture he was giving her.

Brennan pouted. She was enjoying it very much.

"If that was the truth, I would admit it." She said and he grinned, crossing his arms and resting his head on them. Brennan frowned. She didn't want his arms occupied with his _head_. There was a _pillow_ for that. "Fine." She admitted stubbornly and rolled her eyes. "Maybe I was a _little _jealous…"

"_A little_?" He smirked amused.

She shot him a crooked smile and leaned down on his body. "Maybe more than a little…" She said huskily on his ear, making him shiver below her. She smiled. She loved the reactions she could get from him with only one touch. "They were certainly rather uncomfortable feelings I'd prefer not to experience again."

"I assure you, babe, you won't have any reasons to feel jealous from now on." He said and grabbed her unexpectedly, and before she knew it, he was on the top of her again.

"I do like the sound of that." She grinned.

And then again, he pleasantly hushed her with a kiss.

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"We should go back to my apartment." Brennan said when Booth lied next to her completely exhausted, but never feeling so happy, after their very eventful night.

"Why? We can go back tomorrow." He pouted. He didn't want to leave that bed. Not for the next ten hours at least. He turned around and spooned her, rubbing his face on her neck and making her chuckle.

"As much as I'd love to stay here, it's already…" She looked up at the shining clock on the bedside table near her. "4:47. I promised Angela I'd be back tonight. Besides, I'd hate to spend the whole night away from Tommy."

"He's sleeping. He won't be awake for at least the next three hours. Why don't we take a little rest and then go to your house in a couple of hours, uh?" He suggested, his eyes already closing. "I bet he wouldn't mind Mommy and Daddy having a little bit of fun while he is sleeping."

"Booth." Brennan turned around and told him softly. "I _have_ to go. If you prefer, I can take a cab."

That awoke him in a second. "Of course not! I'll take you home."

"Great." She smiled and stood up, starting to grab her clothes from the floor, which were spread all around his bedroom. _"Did you see my bra?"_

_._

_._

The drive to Brennan's apartment that time of the night didn't take long, since there was no traffic at all at five am, apart from some people coming back home from nightclubs or parties and a few people who were already going to work. But in less than fifteen minutes, they were standing in front of her door.

"Be quiet. They are probably sleeping." Brennan murmured before opening the door.

"_Angela and Hodgins_?" Booth snorted a laugh. "I wouldn't doubt if they were-"

He didn't finish his sentence when he noticed Brennan's warning look.

After unlocking the door, she silently took off her shoes – having a moment of pleasure once her feet were free from the killing heels – and entered the leaving room.

The apartment was completely in silence and Brennan was surprised to see that the light she used left turned on in the bathroom was turned off. The place was completely dark apart from the moonlight coming from the windows.

"I'll check on Tommy." Brennan whispered and tip toed to the baby's room.

Booth decided to follow her, but took the other way to turn on a lamp, but before he could reach the plug, he stumbled on something on the floor.

Cursing silently whatever it was that Angela or Hodgins left there, he tried to stand up again, only to realize the thing he stumbled over wasn't a _what_, but a _whom_.

_Did Hodgins fall asleep on the floor? _

_Well… he wouldn't doubt it if he was reading one of his squinty books…_

_Those things were probably the best somniferous in the world…_

As soon as he was able to turn on the lamp, a scary scream came from inside the apartment.

"BOOTH!" Brennan's voice sounded desperate. "_They are not here_!"

But Booth couldn't answer her right away because he was speechless looking at the body standing on the floor. He was used to see unconscious people and even creepy bodies lying in the most uncommon places, but none of those people had been one of his closest friends.

Jack Hodgins did not accidently feel asleep on the floor while reading a boring book, he had been _knocked out_. And by the looks of it, he had been knocked out pretty badly, because his face was covered by the blood coming out of his hurt eyebrow.

"I- I found Hodgins." Booth was able to say, not wanting to think where his son and Angela could possibly be. "Bones… please, don't freak out."

As if anything could freak her out more than finding her baby's nursery empty.

"HODGINS!" She screamed and was kneeled next to him and checking his pulse in record time.

Booth felt stupid for just staying there dumbfound instead of actually doing something to help his friend.

"He- he's alive. He'd lost a lot of blood, but I think he will survive." Her shaking hands traveled down his body trying to find more wounds. "_Booth!_" She shouted. "Call an ambulance!"

"Sure." He shook his head, trying to put everything that was happening together and dialing 911.

"_Hodgins_." Brennan slapped her friend's face trying to wake him up. Her heart was beating like crazy inside her chest. Angela nor Tommy were not there and she was trying to keep positive about what could have happened to them. Maybe they were able to run away from whoever did that to Hodgins… maybe they were safe. "Hodgins, please." Tears run down her cheek. "_Please_, wake up!"

"Tommy and Angela?" Booth asked with his heart tight on his chest, almost fearing her answer.

She just shook her head, biting her lip trying to not lose it before she knew what happened. _Wasn't she the one who always said to not just to conclusions and start worrying before knowing all the facts?_

_The fact alone that they were not there seriously hurt or, good God, dead, was already a positive thing, right?_

"_Angela… Tommy…" _Hodgins moaned, not able to open his eyes. "_He… he took them…_"

"Who, Hodgins?" Brennan asked desperately. "_Who took them?_"

"He took them and I couldn't do anything." Hodgins started sobbing and Booth wondered if he was really conscious or just raving. "_I couldn't do anything…_"

"_Who is he? Who_?" Brennan started shaking the entomologist and Booth bent down behind her, placing his hands gently on her shoulders.

"Bones, why don't you go inside and try to find any hint whoever was here and took them might have left behind while I take care of Hodgins here?" Booth said, as calmly as he could at the moment. Brennan was already starting to lose it and he knew someone had to stay calm, even if he felt like pulling out his hair at the moment.

She nodded her head and stood up, completely bewildered.

_Someone took her baby… her baby might be in danger…_

A white envelope addressed to her was lying on her bed, where the kidnapper certainly knew she would find easily.

Feeling nauseated, she opened the letter, only to drop in on the floor after reading it, her entire body shaking so much she wasn't able to stay up on her feet.

_How could her perfect night turn into a horrific nightmare so suddenly?_

_Why couldn't she enjoy a moment of happiness?_

"BOOTH!" She finally found and voice and cried between her sobs.

"Found something?" He was on her doorframe almost in a second.

All she could do was point at the letter, still on the floor.

Fearing what he was about to read, Booth took the letter and started reading the words written in a very neat handwriting.

_I told you this wasn't over, Dr. Brennan._

_You took my most important thing away from me, now I took yours._

_You will see your son again when I have my freedom back._

The letter wasn't signed, but Booth didn't have doubts about who it was. He was present when she threatened Brennan in the court, right after the judge gave the final verdict. He saw her vindictive eyes when she looked at his partner.

His attention was back to Brennan when he realized she was trying to tell something to him between her sobs.

"_It was her… Booth… the Gravedigger… she took Tommy."_

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**W-H-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-T? **

**S%#&#!**


	27. Here Comes Help

**I'm sorry for the delay on updating this chapter. I've been so busy lately and crazy-sleepless nights-doing-projects-for-college-season is starting.**

**So, sorry if I didn't reply to your review, but I really read and appreciated each one of them. :)**

**I knew it would be a lot of complaining about the last chapter, but since this story started, this was the only thing I knew it would happen, so… trust me in here, please.**

**After all the feedback was more positive than negative, so, I guess it's fine, right? **

**This chapter is kind of shorter than the previous ones, but I didn't want to leave you with that cliffhanger for much longer, so here it is.

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Booth felt like all his blood had been drained out of his body. Would that creepy bitch ever leave them alone? Taking Brennan, him himself, his friends and killing a bunch of other people wasn't enough for her? Did she really have to take their innocent son? Right when his life was starting to be exactly the way he dreamed?

Of course she had. She was plain evil. A_ monster_. Because only a monster would do all the things she had done.

Forgetting his own fears for a while, he looked at his partner- girlfriend- whatever she was now, and felt even worse.

He had already seen Brennan in unfortunate situations. He was there by her side when she found out the truth about her parents. He was there when she found blood on the floor of her apartment and thought her only brother was dead. He was there at her father's trial. He was there when she found out he faked his death – well, he had to be since the slap she gave him left a mark that didn't fade away for the next two days. He was there when she found out Zack was Gormogon's apprentice.

But never, _ever_, in all those eight years they've been together, had he seen Bones looking as lost and desperate as she was looking right now. The glowing sexy woman that had been in his bed just one hour before was replaced by a pale, catatonic one. She had stopped crying and was now staring at the frame standing on her bedside table, featuring six-month-old Tommy showing one of his famous adorable smiles.

Her baby, the precious little boy who became her reason to live had been taken away from her by a heartless, perverse woman who would take someone's life without feeling any remorse about it. Heather Taffet liked the feeling of making people suffer, the idea that she had so much power over someone else's life. Brennan knew that the fact that Thomas was a baby wouldn't affect her in the least.

Knowing he was the child of the people who sent her to jail would please her even more when she ended his short life.

Brennan cringed.

"Bones." Booth kneeled down in front of her and took both her hands in his, worried not only about the man lying on the floor on the next room waiting for the ambulance, his son who was kidnapped by God knows who – since he knew Heather Taffet couldn't have done it while locked in jail, meaning it had been an accomplice, and his friend who was also taken, but also by the strongest woman he knew and who now needed all his strength to help her go through this. "Bones, listen to me."

He wanted to cry, shout and kill the woman who seemed to never leave them alone, but at this moment, he had to be strong and do his best to take Brennan out of the catatonic state she was presenting at the moment.

"We'll get him back." He said looking right into her eyes and knowing it was the truth. They've solved over one hundred cases, they've saved many people who were in danger. They wouldn't fail now that their baby and their friend were the ones needing rescue. "We'll find out who the hell took him and Angela and we will rescue them. That's what we do."

Brennan just shook her head and let the tears fall as she closed her eyes.

"She'll kill him." She said so desperate that Booth felt his heart breaking. "I know she will."

"Bones, Temperance." He was starting to lose it, and he couldn't lose it. It wouldn't help them nor Thomas and Angela in any way if both of them were unable to think straight. "I need you back here with me, okay? I won't be able to do this alone. It's hard enough the way it is, I can't bear it if you don't help me. Thomas needs us. _Both of us_."

Seeing the tears on his eyes took her out of her reverie.

"He's eight months-old, Booth." She sniffed, feeling her heart being ripped. "I- I don't know what I will do if something happens to him. I- I can't… I-"

And then she was locked in his arms, resting her face on the crock of his neck.

"It will be alright, Bones. It will all be alright." He didn't know if he was trying to convince her about that or to convince himself, but saying that made him feel better anyway. He wouldn't give up. "And remember he is not alone, Angela is with him and we both know she will do everything to keep him safe."

"If we had come here right after we left the party-"Brennan started to say guiltily. Remembering how happy she and Booth were while their son was being kidnapped and their hurt made her sick.

"No." Booth said suddenly and very serious, not bothering about the tears in his eyes. "Please, don't say that. Just don't finish that sentence, Bones." He would allow her to regret the previous events that night. Not after how long it took them to get there. "Whoever took Tommy and Angela, he was staking out and checking if we were around. He would have taken them anyway. We being here wouldn't have changed a thing."

She cling even more on him.

"I'm scared, Booth." Her voice was muffed on his neck.

"Me too." He admitted, hugging her tighter. "But we have to stay strong for our son."

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"You better have a goddamned good reason to take me out of my comfortable and warm bed at five in a Sunday morning, chérie." Caroline Julian announced entering Booth's office at the Hoover's building. It was 5:45 in the morning and she received a call from the FBI agent half an hour before telling her there was an emergency and they needed her as soon as possible.

So, there she was.

Like she could deny anything to that charming man.

Placing her big purse on the arm chair, she noticed the usually haughty forensic anthropologist sitting on Booth's chair, wearing a pair of jeans and an old t-shirt, her face completely washed out of makeup and her eyes puffed from crying.

Something was wrong. Something was very,_ very _wrong.

"What the hell happened?" She demanded from Booth seeming already concerned. "I've known that woman for over five years and the only time I've seen her looking that crappy was when we thought you died. And let me tell you, cher, I'd choose to deal with her in her worst cocky days over seeing her like this anytime."

Since Brennan didn't show any will to explain the situation to the prosecutor, Booth rubbed his face and let out a long sigh before speaking.

"The Gravedigger took Tommy." He closed his eyes. Verbalizing it seemed to make the whole nightmare even more real.

"_Little heartbreaker in the making was kidnapped_?" Caroline cried not believing in what she was just informed. Like everyone else, she had been captivated by the little boy, who she used to say would give everyone headaches once he grown up. _'With her eyes and your smile, chérie, this boy is almost a threat to the society. Listen to me on this one, this kid will break a lot of poor chick's hearts.' _She had told Booth once when he was taking care of Tommy because Brennan had to stay at the lab till late. She loved that kid as if he was her own grandson. _"That ugly, evil, pesky piece of ass!"_ She muttered remembering how much she despised the Gravedigger and then realized something. "But Heather Taffet has been in jail for over one year, how on Earth could she have taken him?"

"It wasn't her exactly. It was an accomplice acting on her command. A man, at least that's what Hodgins said. He and Angela were taking care of the baby while Bones and I went to the FBI party."

"Congratulations on that, by the way." She pursed her lips sadly. That was supposed to be a big night for the two partners.

Booth nodded and continued.

"When we arrived at her place, we found Hodgins unconscious on the floor and a note from Taffet saying we'd only see our son when she had her freedom back."

"But she was convicted to over one hundred years in jail, she won't have her freedom unless she escapes, and let me tell you, that's _not _gonna happen." Caroline said with conviction in her eyes. That dirty woman would rot in prison.

"Or unless she dies." Brennan said emotionless, her eyes suddenly very cold.

Caroline frowned.

"Doesn't it break your heart even more seeing her like that?" She asked Booth with a pity face. "How does she do that? She's supposed to be the strong woman who compartmentalizes things. I do not like seeing Dr. Brennan vulnerable like that." Caroline pouted.

Booth looked at Brennan, who was with her eyes closed and her head rested on the chair.

_Yes. Nothing hurt him more than seeing her like that._

"We need you to get the transcription from her trial, we remembered she mentioned someone who used to work at the FBI was helping her, we need that person's name." Booth continued. "Hodgins is at the hospital right now and Cam is with him, he said he doesn't remember much of what happened because he was hit on the head, but he remembered it was a man and that Angela screamed that she wouldn't let anyone take that baby, so, he took them both."

"The pretty artist too?" Caroline asked and he nodded sadly. "Well, but I guess it's better than if the baby was alone." She looked at the two miserable partners and realized she had to do something soon. "I'll get the files."

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Twenty minutes later, the three of them were looking through the pile of transcriptions trying to find the name Heather Taffet mentioned on the trial and who was their only lead to who might have taken Tommy and Angela and where they could possibly be. Finding the name of the kidnapper would make it way easier to locate them.

"Booth!" Brennan shouted, little color finally coming back to her face as hope rose on her chest. "_…I'd like to introduce into evidence item 461B, which is a deconstruction of the same ransom tape by _former FBI special Agent Graham Steele_, who has a Phd in forensic auditory analysis from the University of Pennsylvania." _She read from the file on her hands. "It's _him_, Booth! We have to trace Graham Steele."

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**Caroline is one of my favorite characters, but if I'm not wrong, this is my first time writing her, so… I hope I was able to keep her at least a bit in character.**

**Please, review! =D**


	28. A Real Family

**Sorry for taking so long to update! But this past week has been crazy for me, school, doctors and I happened to found such a great author and I read 3 of her books (400 pages each) in less than a week. So, you can imagine I spent most of my free time reading. Hahaha**

**If you want to read adorable, funny and cute stories, I highly suggest you to read Susan Elizabeth Phillips. All the three books I read were really amazing. It's so hard to find books with catching, great stories since the first page, and Ms. Phillips does that brilliantly.**

**Well, now back to this story. So, yes… I believe the new nemesis in the show is going to be Graham Steele. Not only because Hart Hanson said he was already mentioned on the show, but also because he said that while the Gravedigger was the "evil-Brennan", this new serial killer would be the "evil-Booth", and Steele was a sniper from the FBI.**

**I'm sad to say this is where this story comes to the end. :(**

**When I started writing it, I had no idea where this was going, much less if people would like it. So, I really want to thank all of you for all the great support and for making this my most popular story and one of the most popular here on this website.**

**I hope you like the end. **

**And I hope this helped you go through the horrifically long hiatus, because it surely helped me. :)

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Heather had given him specific instructions to only get _the boy_ from Temperance Brennan's house, but that woman had been so annoying that his only option besides taking her with him was to kill her – which wouldn't be a novelty for him, but then a murder hadn't been included on that mission and he didn't like messing with the original plan.

He wouldn't kill a child. He didn't mind killing people, he did that for a living after all, but he told Heather that even though he loved her, murdering a baby was not something he would do. Not because he thought they were adorable creatures – they weren't. They cried, and drooled and smelled horribly when they pooped their diapers – but he still had hopes to be forgiven one day and somehow he felt things would be a lot more difficult if he had a murder of a child on his résumé.

So, instead of killing the baby of the people his beloved hated the most, he would just disappear with him. He had been in contact with a couple who wanted to adopt a baby for some weeks, and he would give them the baby that morning. Dr. Brennan and Agent Booth would never know what happened to their son, and that would be even worse than killing him, he told Heather in one of their encounters, because nothing hurt more than not knowing.

But now, he had an annoying woman who seemed to not care that he was a kidnapper and a killer and he didn't know what he would do with her. Maybe he would have to kill her after all. He would keep her with him until he gave the baby away, though. He had no will at all to watch the kid.

"Can't you make that twat stop crying?" He shouted when Tommy opened his mouth to start screaming in the top of his lungs. It was very hard to concentrate and think with that disturbing noise. He wondered how such a small creature could scream so loudly.

"He's hungry, you bastard." Angela shot him a killer gaze while holding the baby tighter against her chest, one hand supporting his butt and the other caressing the back of his head, trying to soothe him.

"Feed him then." He said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"May I ask how could I possibly do that? Because I can't see anything eatable around, dirtbag."

He had to admit. That woman had guts.

Crankily, he stood up from his chair and walked to the kitchen.

The baby had to look calm and fine when he gave him to the couple. And he was going to get a hell lot of money out of that deal. He couldn't jeopardy his money with a frowned baby.

Angela stopped acting when he went out of sight and sighed. She was scared to death. She had no idea what that man intended to do with Tommy, let alone with her. The last time she'd seen Hodgins he was unconscious and had a horrible cut on his forehead. But she couldn't show her fear to that horrible man. She had to make sure that little boy would be okay.

"Here." He threw a paper bag at her, almost hitting her face with it.

"Bread?" She raised one eyebrow after she looked inside the sack.

"Are you being picky?" He asked ironically. She really didn't have love for her life, did she?

"He's eight-months-old, you can't give him _bread_ for dinner."

"That's what we have, so you shut up and do whatever you want with it." He said, not caring a bit. "And don't take long, we're leaving in half an hour."

"Where are we going?" She asked, almost letting the fear show in her voice.

"_You_'re not going." He snorted.

"You had lost your mind if you think I will let you take his kid anywhere." She said seriously.

He let out a laugh. _Unbelievable._

"Have you forgotten who has the gun here, darling?" He smirked.

"He's a baby, for Heaven's sake." She started to lose it, tears starting falling from her eyes. "How someone can be so mean to do harm to little child?"

"There are some things we have to do." _Why was he still _talking _to her?_ He should have put a bullet on her head long before. "Now give me the kid. Time is over."

"No." She grabbed Tommy, who had stopped crying, somehow seeming to pick the tension in the air.

"Give. Me. The. Kid." He said dangerously.

"_No_."

"Okay, I didn't want to do this, you really have such a pretty face, but you give me no other option."

He pulled out the gun from his pocket and aimed at her. That was it. Her time had come. At least she would know she'd done everything to keep Tommy safe. She wouldn't bear to die like a coward.

She hoped she could kick-ass and shot like Brennan did, but unfortunately all she could do was spit with deadly accuracy, and besides annoying that monster even more, she couldn't see how that could help her to get out of there safe and with Tommy in her arms.

"So, what's your last words, doll?" He smirked and she could see his yellow, ugly teeth. _Eeek._

Angela closed her eyes, and took a deep breath before opening them again. But when she did, she felt her entire body melting with relief.

She dared to smile. "_You are_ so_ screwed_."

Graham Steele hopped back when he felt a cold gun barrel touching the back of his head and heard a threatening voice whisper on his ear. "_I agree_."

He saw two shadows behind him, and Tommy squealed when he recognized the couple standing behind the man.

"_Ma-ma_!"

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"He's sleeping." Brennan left Tommy's nursery three hours later. After finding out Graham's name, they were able to track his cell phone. The last call had been taken that night and they found out it had been to a couple from Seattle who had come to Washington to take a baby the man would give them for adoption, a boy he claimed to be his. With that information, they had no doubts it was him who had taken Tommy, and the minute after they hang up, they went to the last place Steele had made the call. He certainly didn't imagine Heather mentioned him on her trial, much less that the two partners would remember that and in such a record time. "Fortunately, he hadn't been mistreated, so he didn't show any signs of distress."

The moment Booth had Graham under his gun, Brennan ran to take Tommy from Angela and had hold her baby till now, when he finally fell asleep and she had an important subject to talk with Booth.

"Our little boy is a tough guy." He smiled. He had never felt as desperate as he'd been in those past hours. He'd already been almost killed a lot of times, he'd already felt desperate when Brennan had been kidnapped, but there was nothing like having your own child in danger.

"I don't know what I would have done if something had happen to him." She got closer to him and he embraced her.

"It's over now, Bones. Our boy is safe." He whispered in her ear, rubbing her back. Brennan smiled. She loved being in his arms. "Angela just called me, Hodgins had been discharged and they are already safe at home. Caroline said Graham will spend some very long years behind the grids and when his connection to Heather Taffet is proved, she won't be able to skip the lethal injection this time."

"Booth…" She said softly, caressing his chest with the tip of her fingers. She'd been thinking a lot during that night, about her life and her future. She almost lost her son, she didn't want to lose nothing else. Seeing Booth acting and doing his best to found their son just proved her what an amazing man he was, and she knew that night there was nothing she wanted more in her life than being able to go to sleep and wake up next to him. "I want to marry you."

Booth gasped, not really believing in what he had just heard.

"Bones, you would never believe in what I just thought I heard you saying." He chuckled.

"I said I wanted to marry you."

_Oh, Jesus. He had heard right. _

"I know we just agreed to be together less than a day ago but after all the things that happened to today I came to realize I don't want to be away from you anymore." She told him. "I want us to be a family. A real family."

His opened a wide smile. He really hoped that wasn't a dream. Or an illusion.

"But we don't have to marry to have a family, you know that, right?" He brushed her face with his knuckles. _Mr. Marriage is an archaic institution-bla-bla-bla_ just basically proposed to him. He was almost pinching himself, but he was afraid it would make him wake up.

"Yeah, I'm aware of that, but I acknowledge your beliefs and I know you wouldn't like to live in sin." She smirked and he just couldn't resist kissing her. "So, will you accept?"

"Nothing in the world would make me happier, Mrs. Booth." He kissed her again.

"I'm not going to be Mrs. Booth. Although, it wouldn't be that bad if you changed your name to Mr. Brennan." She teased him.

"You really can't think I'll change my name to Brennan!" His brows furrowed. She had got to be kidding.

"Well, I was the one who proposed." She reminded him.

"So, what? This is not The Sims!" She looked at him confused. _Of course_. He laughed. It was so good to feel like things were finally back to normal. And his Bones asked to marry him. And they would live together. With their son. And Parker would come to visit. "What about both of us keeping our names just the way they are, uh?"

"Sounds acceptable to me." She nodded after thinking about it for a while. "It really would be weird to call you Brennan after so many years calling you Booth. And _I'm _Brennan."

"I'm glad we agree. "He smiled and kissed her, this time taking advantage at her attention to the kiss to put his hands under her knees and lift her in his arms.

"What are you doing?" She asked, finally noticing they were moving and she was not using her feet for that.

"Taking you to the bedroom to start our wedding night." He kissed her again.

"But we are not married yet." Brennan reminded him.

"We can practice." Another kiss.

"And it's 11 in the morning."

"We'll close the curtains." He opened the door and leaned down to put Brennan on the bed. "Now will you just shut up and kiss me?"

And she did.

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**THE END**

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* * *

**By the way, this is really not the end, **_**the end**_**. There's an epilogue on the works. ;)**

**I can't help it. I love epilogues. I love knowing what happened **_**after**_**.**


	29. EPILOGUE

**EPILOGUE**

* * *

The Jeffersonian was getting quieter as the sun began to set. Temperance Brennan took a glance at her watched and smiled. They should arrive there soon.

For the past seven years, she couldn't remember many nights she stayed on the lab till late. Unless there was a case really demanding her work till the dark hours of the night, she would never switch an evening with her family for work. The workaholic Brennan was in the past. Not that she didn't like her job anymore. She still loved what she did. But it wasn't a priority in her life anymore. There were things much, much more important and that gave her much more happiness.

"Mommy!" She lifted her head from the skeleton she was studying and grinned when she saw the redhead little girl running towards her, her long hair whipping in her back as she ran. Brennan opened her arms and caught the excited child, hugging her and kissing her cheek.

"Hi, baby." She said to the kid.

"Charlotte! I won't tell you again _not _to run around the Jeffersonian! Jeez, sometimes you are just like Parker!" Booth showed up at the edge of the platform carrying two backpacks, a Power Rangers one in one arm and a Tinkerbell one in the other. Standing by his side was his blue-eyed little version. "Hi, babe." He smiled when he saw his wife and walked up the steps to kiss her, only to get an icky glance from their daughter.

"Hi, Mom!" Tommy stretched himself to kiss his mother's cheek. At seven years old, he was taller than most of his friends. "I missed you."

Brennan put Charlie back on the floor to hug her beloved son. He said things like that all the time. How much he loved her, how much he missed her, even though she had seen him just that morning. Tommy was definitely the Mommy's boy and Brennan loved it. Sometimes she couldn't believe how big he already was. She felt like it was just yesterday when he was her chubby baby. He looked more and more like his father as time passed, and his natural charm and good heart enchanted everyone. "I missed you too, baby."

"You have to be careful, carrot. No one will be happy if you make them drop something." He turned his attention from his mother to the little girl. If there was something Tommy loved to do, that was to tease his little sister.

"Don't call me carrot." Charlie frowned and shot him an angry look. Booth smiled and looked at Brennan. _She was just like her mom._

"Well, you look like a carrot." Tommy continued and the parents decided to see where that was going. Charlie usually didn't let her brother win a battle without fighting first, what led to some very amusing situations. If they didn't pay attention, the little girl would end up kicking her brother's ankle. It had happen some times before.

Booth wrapped his arms around his wife and both watched their kids' arguing, waiting to see if they would have to interfere.

"_No, I don't_! I look like a _little girl_." Charlotte's face started to get pink. "And dad says my hair is pretty and Auntie Angie says lots of people would love to have my hair." She stuck out her tongue at her older brother. "And mommy said she also had orange hair when she was a little girl like me and when I grow up I'm going to be pretty and tall like mommy, with big boobs and all, right, Daddy?"

She directed her big blue eyes at her father and pouted. _Yeah, like he could resist it._

He loved how his baby girl would always go to him when she needed reassurance.

"Yes, you are, pumpkin." Booth lifted her up and kissed her tempers. "You're already the prettiest little thing around there."

"_Pumpkins are also orange…_" Tommy coughed and Brennan gave him a gaze that told him to stop, but she had to try hard not to smile.

Angela and Hodgins, who were about to leave the Jeffersonian to go to their son's soccer game, decided to stop to greet the happy family.

"And Tommy, Parker and I are going to kick a lot of guys who will want to date you, but we won't let them." Booth continued talking to his daughter.

"Boys are annoying." Charlie grimaced. "I just like Peter. He's nice." She added and waved at Angela and Hodgins with a wide smile on her face. "He kissed me once." She blushed as she said that to her father. Peter would always help her doing plans to tease Tommy. The three of them got along very well and even with all the tease, the kids loved each other. "Here on the cheek." She pointed the spot on her face as her father's brows furrowed.

"I'm going to kick your son's little butt, Hodgins." Booth let out a laugh and looked at Hodgins.

"No, daddy! You can't hurt Peter!" Charlie said right away, shaking her head 'no' desperately.

"It's not his fault Charlie is such a cutie, Booth."The curly haired entomologist said amused. "A boy's gotta do what a boy's gotta do." He added proudly.

"Oh, imagine how adorable it would be if Charlie and Peter got married one day?" Angela said hopefully and clapped her hands together.

"They are_ four_ and _five_ years old, Angela." Booth reminded his friend. _Jeez, he didn't want to think about his baby getting married anytime soon._

"Well, they'll grow up one day." Angela shrugged.

"Mommy, Dad told us we're going to the diner tonight and have burgers and ice cream!" Tommy said excited.

"Yeah, he said we'll have ice creams _this _big." Charlie spread her arms to show how big they would be.

"That big?" Brennan chuckled.

"No, Charlie, they won't be _that_ big." Tommy explained tenderly to his baby sister. He loved to tease her, but he adored the little girl. "But they still are going to be pretty big."

"Aunt Angie, Uncle Jack, 'want to come with us?" Charlotte asked.

"We'd love to, honey, but Peter has a game tonight." Angela explained.

"Oh." The little girl sighed disappointed. "Tell Peter I'm hoping he'll win. He plays very well."

"_I think Charlie really has a crush on Peter, Bones. Should I be worried_?" Booth whispered to Brennan.

"I think it's sweet. She's a child, Booth. I don't think there should be reasons to be worried. Besides, Peter is really an amazing and bright little boy." Brennan reminded him. "Maybe eventually they'll date." She bit her lips trying not to laugh as she saw Booth's jaw clenching. "And by eventually I mean in like, fifteen years."

"If he breaks her heart, I'll shoot him." He murmured. "I mean it."

Brennan chuckled.

"Poor Charlie and her future boyfriends…" She shook her head amused.

"_Boyfriends_? In the plural?" Booth cried.

"Let's go, Booth, the kids must be hungry." She linked her arm with his and patted his hands. "Tommy, Charlie, let's go." She called the kids. "Angela, Hodgins, are you still up for the lunch tomorrow?"

"Yes, of course! Paul and Cam are also going, and Sweets and Daisy with Lisa." Angela said.

"Okay, we'll be there." Brennan nodded and they started leaving the lab, the kids walking in front of them.

"Parker is going to meet us there." Tommy told his little sister.

"Good, I love Parker. He's my favorite brother. He plays with me, and doesn't tease me." Being the youngest, Charlie was always the one everyone liked to pick on, but she was also the most adored one, after all, she was their baby. _And_ the only girl.

"He _does _tease you." Tommy snorted.

"Not as much as you do." She pouted.

"I know I'm your favorite brother."

"No, you're not. Parker is."

"Aw, Charlie. I know you love me." He wrapped on arm around her shoulders and shot her his best charming smile. "You're my favorite sister, you know that."

"Of course I'm your favorite sister, cuz I'm your_ only _sister." She looked up at him.

"Yes, but you know I love you, right?"

"Yeah." Charlotte grinned. "I love you too. Even though you're annoying."

"Thanks, carrot."

"_Don't. Call. Me. Carrot__!_"

Booth and Brennan smiled as they watched their kids walking in front of them with their arms around each other.

It was a long journey till their life finally settled, but in the end, it was _all_ worth it.


End file.
